


Silence Speaks Volumes

by Whambamthanksbatfam



Series: I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe, Anxiety Attacks, BAMF Dick Grayson, BAMF Jason Todd, Bat Family, Batfamily Feels, Big Brother Dick Grayson, Big Brother Jason Todd, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Damian Wayne Feels, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian Wayne-centric, Family Drama, Family Feels, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Summaries, Light Angst, Low key Codependency, Mother-Son Relationship, Mute Damian Wayne, Muteness, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Jason, Slight Canon Divergence, Some Humor, big brother Tim Drake
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-02 11:33:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 33,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14543820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whambamthanksbatfam/pseuds/Whambamthanksbatfam
Summary: Damian Wayne was a boy. Not a normal boy, though. He was the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins, the son of Talia al Ghul, leader of the Leviathan Organization, and son of the Batman, the greatest hero to ever live, the world’s best detective. So, when Damian was training in the comfort of his Grandfather’s compound, he was surprised to hear he would be going to America of all places. The land of mediocrity.---Join Damian as he finds his place in the Batfamily and how the Batfamily comes to cherish him.





	1. A Young Assassin’s Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've always wondered what a mute Damian would be like. I was so scared to publish this (That's why I haven't posted in awhile). I hope y'all like it.

Damian Wayne was a boy. Not a normal boy, though. He was the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assassins, the son of Talia al Ghul, leader of the Leviathan Organization, and son of the Batman, the greatest hero to ever live, the world’s best detective. So, when Damian was comfortably training in the comfort of his Grandfather’s compound, he was surprised to hear he would be going to America of all places. The land of mediocrity. 

  


“I know you don’t want to, but you can learn a lot from your father.” Damian's mother was explaining to him that it would be a good learning experience to live with his father for a bit. Damian had heard stories about him. The man sounded amazing. Damian wanted to be Batman when he grew up. He’d be Batman and Ra’s and leader of Leviathan. He’d be the most powerful man on earth. Damian nodded in response to his Mother’s comment and went to pack his bags. 

… 

The plane ride to Gotham was smooth enough. Damian enjoyed it because his mother let him sit with her. Oftentimes they’d sit apart, but she allowed it since he wouldn’t be seeing her for awhile. He laid his head in her lap and listened to her breathing. He loves he way she breathes. It is strong and confident. 

  


There was a group made up of an old man, a middle aged man, a young man, and a teenager waiting outside the plan when Damian and his mother got off. His mother kissed the middle aged man, he must be Damian’s father, Billionaire Bruce Wayne and the Batman. He assumed the older man was Alfred Pennyworth, his father’s servant and the boys were the adopted sons of his father. 

  


Damian couldn’t help but be jealous of these boys. His father chose them. Damian was being forced upon him. He hoped he could make his Father proud.

  


The young man came up to Damian first. He had olive colored skin and bright blue eyes, he looked to be of Romanian descent. He wore a big smile when he came up to Damian and crouched down to meet the boy’s eye level. “Hi, Damian,” he said kindly, “I’m Dick! Well, my name is actually Richard John Grayson, but my friends and family call me Dick. You can too!” The man had a mouth on him, Damian could tell that much. Damian gave him a small wave and a smirk. The man’s smile was contagious.

  


His mother took his hand and led him to the rest of the family since Damian obviously wasn’t going to do it himself. The other boy smiled and waved shyly. He wasn’t sure that his mother trusted the two boys. He’d find out later. 

  


“I’m Tim,” the younger boy said softly. Damian nodded in acknowledgment. The teenager smiled. 

“This is your father, Ibn,” Damian’s mother said proudly. Damian sized him up. He thought the man would be taller. Damian bowed, as was customary for one to do when seeing a superior. Damian’s father smiled awkwardly. 

“Hi, Damian,” he said quickly. Damian nodded.

“You don’t talk,” Tim questioned. Talia glared at him. Damian had never talked. All his other development was normal. His mother assumed something had went wrong. He was grown in vitro, so anything could have happened. Damian was pretty sure he could speak, he just never tried before. His Grandfather, Ra’s, said that silence was his friend, so not talking did not matter too much. Also, that it would make people fear him more. 

“Leave him alone, Timmy,” the older young man, Dick, said. 

“Well, I must be going.” Talia pulled her hand away, but Damian didn’t let go. She squeezed his hand lightly. He noticed what he was doing and pulled his away. Talia have Damian a kiss on the forehead. “Father and I will contact you,” she said evenly. Then she was gone. 

  


They arrived at the manor shortly after. It was late and almost time for patrol, so the boys and Bruce had to leave. It bothered Bruce that they couldn’t understand the boy. He obviously could understand English. He wrote Arabic, but that was one of the only common languages Bruce didn’t know. 

  


Damian was scared to sleep in this room. The bed was too big and far to comfortable. It had to be a trick. Damian decided to go around the manor and study it a bit. He was still in his League attire. He didn’t make a sound as he rambled around the property. It seemed to have an infinite amount of rooms. Damian was still wandering when Alfred found him. “There you are, young master. It is time for you to retire.” Alfred came and put a hand on Damian’s shoulder. The boy flinched and Alfred removed the hand. He didn’t want to set the boy off. “Come now,” he said warmly. He led Damian back to his room and gave him pajamas. Damian put the clothes on and laid down in his bed. 

  


He was near to sleep when he heard a rustle. There was a shadow outside his window. He looked over and saw a man with a red helmet walking in. He took off his helmet and mask. Damian knew him. Jason Todd was his name. His mother had put him in the pit to fix his mind. Damian remembered walking with Jason around the compound. He’d lead the teenager by the hand throughout the day. He followed him like a lost puppy. Damian decided he could trust Jason Todd. Anyone his mother trusted he could trust.  

  


“So it’s true,” he chuckled. Damian smirked and got out of the bed. “A little old lady told me, but I had to see for myself.” Damian ran up to Jason and gave him a hug. Jason and his mother were the only people Damian trusted enough to let his guard down around. He could only do it with his mother when they were not in jeopardy of getting caught. “I haven’t seen you in awhile,” Jason said warmly as he hugged Damian back. “So you’re here with your dad.” Damian nodded. “Spy work?” Damian flattened his hand and shook it.

“How’s Mara?”

_ Still a loser. _ Damian could sign with Jason.

Jason laughed. “I remeber when you gave her that sick scar. You know she’s hated you since. Me too because I found it entertaining.”

_ It was inadvertent. I have no ill will towards her. _

“Mmhm.” Jason smiled slyly. “You should’ve called,” Jason joked. 

_ Even if I could talk, why would I call you. _ Jason put a hand to his chest.

“How could you? That hurt, Damian.” Jason picked Damian up and they sat on the overly luxurious bed. 

_ I was aware of your absence. _

“Missed you too, but you know I had to go.” Damian nodded. Damian touched Jason’s throat. He always did that when he wants Jason to sing for him. “Okay, but only a bit.” Jason sang the boy a lullaby. He was sleep before Jason even finished. Jason figured staying wouldn’t do any harm, so he settled in with a book he had in his pocket for slow patrols. 

… 

Damian was awoken to the sound of yelling and being snatched out of Jason’s arms. He probably would have woken up sooner, but he always slept more deeply when he was with someone he knew would protect him. Bruce was holding Jason by the arm. “Let me go, old man!” Damian was being held by Dick. 

“If you hurt him,” Bruce threatened.

“Bruce, Jay wouldn’t do that. Dami’s okay. Right Dami?” Damian nodded and reached for Jason.

“Of course I wouldn’t. I was just visiting.” Bruce stopped.

“Damian, you know Jason?” Damian nodded.

“We met when he was a toddler,” Jason said while snatching his arm out of Bruce’s grip. 

_ Don’t leave _ , Damian signed.

“I’ll see you later,” Jason responded.

_ Please _

_ Bruce wouldn’t let me _ , Jason signed. 

“You can communicate with him,” Bruce asked. All the anger replaced with intrigue.

“Uh, yeah,” Jason said. Trying to avoid the melancholic eyes of a little boy begging him to stay.

_ They can’t read Arabic or sign. _ Jason sighed. He guessed he could help them out a bit.

“You really had the kid come stay here without knowing how to communicate with him?” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Talia said he knew English,” Bruce defended himself weakfly.

_ You can’t leave me here. _ Damian reached for Jason again. Dick handed the boy to him. Damian clinged to Jason. 

“Well, I thought you would have done your own research. Or just google some words. Or, like, given him google translate so that he could type in Arabic.” Bruce and Dick’s faces reddened. “They treating you okay, buddy,” Jason used a different tone with Damian than he did with the other members of his ‘family.’ 

_ I want to stay with you. _

_ You can’t stay with me. I wouldn’t be able to take care of you. _

_ I can take care of myself. _

_ Bruce is okay. You could be stuck with worse. _

_ Will you visit? _ Jason nodded.

“See you later, buddy.” Jason gave Damian back to Dick then gave Damian a boop on the nose before grabbing his helmet and domino and leaving.

“Bruce,” Dick scolded. “He’s never gonna come back if you keep acting like that. Sorry for waking you up, Dami.” Dick tucked him in his bed. Damian wanted Jason back. Dick and Bruce turned the light off and left. Damian made it his new mission to find out where Jason lives. He missed the man and it was nice having him back for the few hours he did.

… 

Damian couldn’t sleep the rest of the night, so he got up to train an hour earlier than he usually did. Alfred came in at about 10:30 am telling Damian to come to breakfast. The boy wasn’t hungry, not after last night, but he came anyway. “Good morning,” Dick said happily as Damian walked in. Damian nodded and sat by Tim. Tim was currently sleep while still holding his cup of coffee. Damian looked at Dick. “Oh, Timmy doesn’t get enough sleep like he should. Just tap him.” Damian softly tapped Tim and the boy awoke with a startle. He dropped the mug, but Damian caught it before it hit the ground. 

“Good reflexes,” Bruce said from behind his paper. Damian handed Tim his cup.

“Thanks,” he said breathlessly. As the rest of the people at the table ate, Damian sat there and did nothing.

“What would you like to eat, Master Damian,” Alfred asked after seeing the boy doing nothing. Damian just shook his head. He wasn’t used to eating more than one meal a day and some snacks. Ra’s didn’t starve him. Damian was just trained to not need too much food. Plus, he feasted during his one meal. 

“You have to eat,” Bruce said. It came out a bit too harsh. Dick kicked Bruce in the leg. Damian grabbed a piece of toast and nibbled on it. That’s when a visitor came: Ace the Bathound. Damian got out of his seat and went straight to the dog. He petted it softly. The dog instantly took a liking to him and sat down in front of the boy. Everyone smiled at the interaction. When breakfast was over, Damian was still playing with the dog. The dog picked him up and Damian rode it like a horse through the manor. 

“I see Master Damian is fond of Ace,” Alfred said admiringly to Bruce. Bruce nodded and smiled. 

… 

When he finished his training, Damian set off to find Jason. He went on the Batcomputer to do his detective work and had seven addresses to try. He deleted the history and made it impossible for someone to find out he was on it. He even cleaned his prints off, then he made his way out of the manor. 

  


Damian knew how to drive, so he could have borrowed a car, but he liked walking better. The first location was empty to Damian’s dismay, but he didn’t give up hope. He was about to on the way to his seventh location. He was walking when two men came in front of him, holding guns. ‘Stupid men,’ Damian thought. He took care of them quickly and turned around to see no other than Jason Todd. “What’d you do,” he said worriedly. “Great, now your dad is going to think I either took you on patrol or coerced you into killing some gang members for me.” Damian shrugged unrepentantly. 

_ They had it coming _ . 

“Yeah I guess so. What’re you doing here?” Damian blushed.

_ Looking for you. _

“Oh,” Jason began to roll on the balls of his feet. “I don’t think your dad would like you around here.”

_ Mother trusts you and that is all that is relevant to me. _ Jason smiled.

“Where are my manners? Alfred would have my head if he found out I didn’t invite you in for tea.” Jason grabbed Damian’s hand and led him to the apartment. “This is my favorite one,” Jason said. “I have like 6 more.”

_ I know, I visited all of them. _

“Oh, well cool.” 

  


Jason and Damian had tea like true gentlemen as Jason explained what was going on between him and Bruce. “So, yeah… you probably don’t want to be seen with me.” Damian shook his head. Jason was like his brother in every sense but blood. Besides, he’d make Gotham less lonely. Damian got up, put his tea down, took Jason’s tea and put it down, then sat down right in Jason’s lap. Jason chuckled. “I’m gonna have to bring you back soon, or they’ll be mad.” Damian looked at Jason with pleading eyes. “I’ll visit, I promise. Or you can visit. Here, I’ll give you my cell.” Damian handed Jason his phone. Jason unlocked the phone and went to contacts. There were only two names in there: Mother and Grandfather. Jason breathed a laugh before adding his and Dick’s. He figured the boy could call Dick if he ever needed help and Jason wasn’t available. Jason took Damian back home shortly after.

  


“Damian, where were you?” Dick was curious as to why the boy disappeared for seven hours. Damian forgot his paper and pen at Jason’s apartment, so he just shrugged. “Did you get lost?” Damian shook his head. Dick really wished Damian talked right about now. “Did you… visit someone?” Damian nodded. “Who?” Damian looked at Dick patronizingly. “Oh, yeah. Was it your mom?” Damian shook his head. “A friend?” Damian shook his head again. Dick thought again. “Jay?” Damian nodded. “Oh, okay. He doing okay?” Damian nodded. Dick smiled, “Great!” 

  


Damian figured Gotham may not be too bad of a place to live.


	2. A Young Assassin’s Way of Communication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian meets someone who scares him and Jason calms him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I'll see about getting the next one up soon!
> 
> (Small Graphic Scene)

 

Early one evening, Damian was reading on the stairs when Ace walked by. Damian liked the dog, so he followed him. He followed Ace into a room that had a lady sitting in it. She was smiling kindly. She had blonde hair and light peach skin. Damian thought she looked like a princess. “Hi,” she said kindly. Damian waved and went to sit by Ace on the floor in front of her. Then she surprised Damian:  _ What’s your name? _ She signed. That made Damian a bit excited, but he followed the instincts instilled in him by his mother and asked questions first.

_ Who are you? _

“I’m Dinah. I’m a friend of your father.” Damian looked at her analytically. He remembered a Dinah Drake from the Justice League files his Grandfather had him read each month. 

_ Drake? _

“Yes,” she chirped. “So you’ve heard of me?” Damian nodded.

_ Are you a princess? _ Damian’s curiosity got the better of him. 

“No, but I know one.” She smiled again, then pulled out a book. “Have you ever read this one before?” It was a book on dogs. Damian had never read a book on dogs before. His grandfather wouldn’t find it to be beneficial. He was only allowed one recreational book a week and he had never chosen a book like this. Damian shook his head. “Do you wanna read it with me?” Damian looked at her suspiciously now. She said ‘with,’ but she could be implying he would have to speak. The book looked really interesting, so he took his chances and nodded. She patted the seat beside her and Damian quickly got up and sat by it. She began by reading the first page and asking Damian questions after each paragraph. “Do you wanna read,” she asked. He shook his head. She nodded and read the second page and did the same procedure as she did with the first. Again she asked him if he wanted to read and he declined. After the fourth page, Damian was starting to get anxious and fidgety.

“You’re very observant,” Dinah said warmly, after Damian pointed out a grammatical error in the book. At page seven Dinah asked Damian to read yet again. He agreed to and began to read, but signed the words.  _ At the time of this writing the FCI recognizes 339 breeds of dogs which are divided into 10 groups based upon the dog's purpose or function or upon its appearance or size… _ He kept that up for the rest of the book. She put the book back in her bag and stood up. “Thanks for reading with me,” she said sweetly. Damian nodded and she left.

…

Reading with Dinah became a routine. Every week, Ace would lead Damian into the same room and Dinah would be there with a new book. They had been through Dogs, Cats, Birds, and Fish. Today, they were on Trees. Today was different though. Dinah was making Damian really uncomfortable. Usually Ace helped a bit, but she was more persistent in asking him to read out loud today. Did she know he couldn’t speak? Damian figured she knew, though. Eventually, it all became too much and Damian fled.

 

He ran and ran until he couldn’t anymore. Then he curled up in the corner of a dark, grimy alley. It was dank, cold, and dirty, but Damian didn’t seem to notice. He was just trying to get his breathing under control. He knew how to do it. His mother had taught him, but it wasn’t working. He was starting to feel dizzy. Damian took out his phone and pressed the last contact down the line. The phone rang twice before the person answered.

_ “I thought you said that you’d never call me. Even if you did talk _ ,” Jason chuckled. He didn’t receive a response back though. All he heard was heavy breathing. “ _ You okay? Where are you? Nevermind, I’ll track you. Stay where you are okay?” _ Jason didn’t get a response, but he figured Damian was listening. He hopped on his bike and rode as fast as he could to where he tracked Damian to. When he got there, Damian was curled up in a ball rocking back and forth. 

“Hey,” Jason whispered. “It’s okay.” He didn’t want Damian to run. Jason walked up to Damian slowly. “Hey, Buddy. It’s okay.” Jason picked Damian up and hugged him tightly. “What happened?” Damian tried to sign, but his hands were trembling too much. “It’s okay.” Jason put him on the front of the motorcycle and drove back to his apartment. Damian shook the whole time.

 

They got back to his apartment fairly quickly and Jason took the boy inside. He sat him on the kitchen counter and went into his first aid supplies. He found a benzodiazepine pill. He gave it to Damian with water then undressed the boy. He put him in the bathtub and left to find him some clothes. When Jason came back, Damian was trembling less and his breathing had slowed, so the pill was obviously working. He washed the boy up then put him on some clothes Jason ended up having to borrow from a neighbor. 

 

He held Damian for a bit before trying to ask questions. “What happened, buddy?” Damian sighed softly. He tried to sign, but it was still a bit broken.

_ Lady… Father’s friend… read together… talk. _ Damian’s breathing began to pick back up. 

“Hey, hey, calm down. It’s okay.” Jason figured he would have to call Bruce to get the full story. “Go ahead and go to sleep.” Damian laid his head on Jason’s chest and nodded off a minute later. Jason carefully picked the boy up, wrapped him in a blanket, and went to his car. The drive to the manor was peaceful enough. Damian stirred a few times, but went back to sleep whenever he saw Jason. Bruce was outside when Jason pulled up to the front door. Jason left Damian in the car and got out. “What happened? Damian told me something about a lady who was your friend that read with him.”

“Dinah Drake.”

“Black Canary?”

“Her day job is in psychiatry.”

“Were you trying to make him talk or something,” Jason was nearly growling. Why couldn’t they leave the boy alone?

“Yes. The first month went fine. I think she scared him today. Where’d he go?”

“He called me. He was having a panic attack in some random alley in Gotham.” Bruce looked guiltily at the car that held Damian.

“We didn’t mean any harm.”

“Ra’s lets him be. Why can’t you? It isn’t hurting anyone or anything.”

“I’m sorry.” Bruce sounded sincere, so Jason decided to let his anger go. Damian probably didn’t even know Bruce was behind this. He was an adept detective and assassin, but still a little kid in many ways. 

“I know,” Jason sighed as he went to the car to get Damian. He picked the sleeping boy up and walked in the house. “I had to give him a benzo,” Jason explains to Alfred and Bruce. He got Damian into bed quickly and tried to leave, but Alfred stopped him. 

“Stay for dinner,” he asked. Jason knew it was an order and grumbled his way to Damian’s room while he waited.

… 

Jason ended up staying the night at the manor. He hated it, but he knew it was his own fault for letting Alfred and Dick guilt trip him into doing it. Damian was happy to see he was still there, and Tim was indifferent.

 

Breakfast, which Alfred also found a way to hook Jason into (that man’s a metahuman), was awkward. Everyone but Damian was there and Jason was tasked with getting him to come. He walked into the gym to see Damian training. The boy was always training. “Damian.” Damian didn’t acknowledge his name being called. “Damian.” He stopped this time and turned around. “Are you going to come eat breakfast with me?” Jason gave him a sly smile. 

_ No _ . He began to sign.

“Why?”

_ Not hungry. _

“Yeah right. What’s the real reason?” Damian tried to turn around, but Jason wouldn’t let him. 

_ Does Father expect me to… speak? _

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. You do you.” Damian looked unsure. “If the great Ra’s al Ghul doesn’t think your speaking is imperative, what opinion does the Batman have?” Damian nodded, but didn’t smile. Jason grabbed his hand and took him to breakfast. Damian sat by Jason. 

“Hey, Dami,” Dick said through a mouthful of cereal.

“Master Dick,” Alfred chided. The young man acted as if Alfred hadn’t taught him proper manners.

“Sorry, Alfie,” Dick said. Damian waved at Dick softly. Tim was, like usual, sleeping at the table. Jason felt this was boring, so he decided to start something. 

“Tim,” Jason said. The boy startled awake.

“I’m up,” he slurred. Jason had to hide a smirk. 

“What did you do to Damian?” Tim looked confused. Damian took the cue and scooted closer to Jason.

“What,” Tim said. Fully awake now. “I didn’t do anything to him.” Bruce looked up. 

“You know what you did,” Jason feigned anger. He pulled Damian into his lap and rubbed circles on the boy’s back. Damian sniffled. 

“Tim,” Bruce said firmly. He hadn’t heard of any incidents. “What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything to him,” Tim said while holding his hands up. 

“Timmy,” Dick said softly and mouthed ‘Did you do anything?’ Tim shook his head. Bruce put his paper down, so Jason figured he might have went a bit too far. 

“Damian,” Tim pleaded. “Tell them I didn’t do anything.” Damian looked up at Jason and the man nodded. Damian jumped back into his chair and smirked. “See,” Tim complained. Bruce went back to his paper.

“Jay, stop being a bad influence.”

“If I’m a bad influence what are Ra’s and Talia, heck, even Bruce is a bad role model.” Damian tensed up. He crawled under the table. 

“What’s he doing,” Dick whispered to Jason. Jason shrugged. 

“Damian,” he peeked under the table and the boy was gone. “He’s gone,” Jason gasped. They all got up and began to look around. 

“Is he a Homo Magi, Bruce,” Dick asked.

“Not as far as I know.”

“He’s not,” Jason said. “Damian,” he called out. Then they heard a pained yell. It wasn’t the sound of a little boy, though. It was the sound of a man. They rushed outside to see Damian cutting a man’s groin off. 

“Damian,” Bruce yelled. He came and snatched the boy by his arm. Dick checked the man’s pulse. He was alive. That’s when they noticed the man was dressed in clothing from the Leviathan Organization. Damian was fighting against Bruce’s grip. Dick and Jason took the man away from Damian’s line of sight and called an ambulance. “Stop,” Bruce growled. Damian wouldn’t though. He had a pleading look on his face. He was signing something with his free hand frantically, but Bruce couldn’t understand him. Bruce then realized he was holding the boy’s arm really tightly. Bruce let go immediately. Damian dropped to the ground, holding his arm. He got up and ran into the mansion. Bruce went after him, but he couldn’t find him.

 

Damian had failed his mission and his father. He went to hide. He didn’t want to do anymore damage.

 

They had been looking for Damian for a day and a half. They were pretty sure he was still in the manor, but he may not be. They considered calling his mother to coax him out, but decided against it. “Jay, it’s your time to shine,” Dick said. Jason, who was reading in the library, looked up.

“What?”

“Go find Dami.” Jason had opted out of the search. “Leave him be. If he wants me, he’ll call me.” Dick looked confused.

“He’s mute, Jay.” Jason smirked.

“I know.” Jason knew that Damian would let himself be found when he wanted to be. Dick walked out in a huff. Jason decided maybe he should make sure the boy is okay. He hadn’t helped them look for him. He knew the boy could handle himself. He walked into the middle of the manor, the living room, where Damian would be able to hear him wherever he was. “Damian,” Jason yelled, “C’mere.” Then he sat down with his book. That brought the whole family into the living room. “He’ll come,” Jason said confidently. They sat and waited. Five minutes later, Damian dropped from the ceiling into Jason’s lap. No one knew where he came from. 

_ My arm _ , Damian signed. Jason looked at it a bit before popping it into place. 

_ Who did it _ , Jason signed.

_ Father _

_ Why? _

_ He was holding it too tightly. He twisted it. If my form is off when I video call Grandfather tomorrow I will be punished.  _ Damian frowned. 

“It’ll be fine.” Damian shook his head and left. He ignored the other four people in the room.

“We should learn to sign,” Dick said.

“That’s a capital idea,” Alfred said. Jason just rolled his eyes.


	3. A Young Assassin’s Lesson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim becomes a teacher and Damian a student.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short! More to come later today!

Damian did his best not to be any trouble. He took care of himself and cleaned up where he could. All he did was train and his online college courses. He sometimes played with Ace too. Today, he was riding Ace through the house when the dog all of a sudden changed directions. 

 

Ace took them to the room in which Damian would read with the lady. She was there again. Damian tried to get out, but the dog sat on him. He looked at her, trying his best not to reveal his fear. Eventually he got the dog off him and ran out the room. On his way out he collided with Tim. “What’s wrong, Damian?” Tim looked around for any sign of danger, but didn’t see one. Damian looked across Tim’s shoulder then hid behind him. Damian had a natural mistrust and fear towards everything and one he didn’t know. He hid it when he fought because, at that point, all he had to do was kill them. He didn’t do well with it in civilian situations. Dinah peeked her head out the doorway. “Oh, hi Miss Drake,” Tim said politely. 

“Tim,” she said warmly.

“Are you here on league business? I think B is in the cave, but I can get him.” Tim began to walk away.

“No. I’m here for this little guy.” She pointed at Damian, who was still hiding behind Tim fearfully. 

“Damian, go ahead. She’s good.” Tim assured him. Damian shook his head. Tim smiled weakly at Dinah. “Sorry.” He turned around to Damian. “What’s wrong? She won’t hurt you.” Damian signed. Tim had been learning, but even his IQ of 142 couldn’t help him too much. 

_ She… read… talk… _

“Here, just go read with her, okay? You can call Jason later.” Damian’s lip quivered, but he bit down on it. Then he walked up to Dinah. She smiled warmly and they started their routine again.

… 

Early the next morning, after patrol, everyone was frantically looking for Damian. About an hour into their search, he limped back in battered and bruised. Dick tried to pick him up, but Damian wouldn’t let him. “Dami,” Dick said worriedly. “What happened?” Damian just shook his head and went to the infirmary. They all followed him quietly. The boy patched himself up while ignoring any questions he was asked. Then he signed a J with his left hand. That meant he wanted Jason. They had been so caught up in looking for Damian they forgot to call him.

 

Jason came as soon as he was called. “What happened,” he asked Damian. The boy signed something quickly then gave Jason his left hand. It was broken pretty badly. Jason held it gingerly. “Let Alfred reset it, okay?” Damian looked at Alfred for a minute, then he put his hand in front of the old man. Alfred smiled softly and set the hand. Damian was signing with his uninjured at Jason once he finished. “I’ll ask her.”

“Who and what,” Bruce asked. Jason turned around.

“He can’t really sign with two hands, so we’re gonna ask Talia to smuggle us some Lazarus Pit water.” 

“How’d this happen,” asked Tim, his curious mind never stopping. Jason looked at Damian then back to the others. 

“That’s confidential.”

“Jason,” Bruce said firmly. “What happened?” Jason wasn’t sure what to say when Damian started a coughing fit. Jason could tell it was purposeful, but no one else could, so he patted the boy’s back softly. Damian signed again and Jason nodded. 

“I’m gonna take him to bed.” Jason picked the boy up carefully. Damian laid his head on Jason’s shoulder and closed his eyes. 

“Good night, Dami,” Dick said softly. After Jason put Damian in bed, he came back to the cave. 

“What happened,” Bruce asked insistently. 

“He had a test,” Jason explained, “... And he failed it.” He said the last part sadly.

“Why’d they break his hand,” Tim asked. Trying to piece everything together. 

“He can’t sing well without his hand. Their way of cutting off communication,” Bruce deducted. Jason nodded to confirm. Dick sighed sadly. Jason’s phone pinged.

“Talia said she can’t get the water to him for 3 days. I guess it was time to teach him to write English anyway.”

… 

Teaching Damian English wasn’t really hard. Who knew how it was spoken and grammar. Spelling was the only problem. Tim, being known as the smart one in the family, was tasked with teaching him. Jason was sometimes there for moral support and to protect Tim in case Damian misconstrued something. 

 

Oftentimes, Tim would do things that set Damian off. Reach for something wrong way or inadvertently obscure something suspiciously. The first few times it happened, Damian got pretty close to killing Tim. he only doesn’t try to kill him anymore because Jason said ‘Killing Baby-bird, sadly, will never be the answer.’ Damian didn’t hate Tim, actually. He found the boy interesting. He’d spend hours watching him in his natural environment, a desk or table and his laptop.

 

Tim was fine with Damian too. He thought the boy was kind of cute when he took his murderous glare and scowl off. Tim thought Damian was a bit too vigilant, but Bruce would tell him one can never be too vigilant. The boy never relaxed unless he was with Jason. Tim figured it was some instinct. Though Jason had tried to kill him once, Tim felt safe around him too.

 

“Okay, Damian. Write: Red Robin is a good hero.” Tim would deny anyone’s claim that he was biased. His curriculum was good. What did the proper nouns he used matter? Damian wrote and showed Tim.

_ Red Hood is a hero good. _ Tim smirked. 

“You switched the order of ‘hero’ and ‘good,’ but the rest is good. Now write: Batman was trained by the best.” Damian did the same procedure again.

_ Ra’s al Ghul trains the best. He is the best. _

“Okay, Damian, this is not a debate on superhero politics. Just write what I say. It doesn’t matter if you agree with it.” Damian crossed his arms. “Stop being melodramatic. Now write: My mother told me to come in the house and eat dinner.”

_ Mother commanded that I pause my training so that I may go do my lessons. _

“Damian,” Tim sighed. “That is nothing like what I said. Plus, I’m pretty sure you eat dinner.” Damian shook his head. That explained why the boy never ate every meal each day. He usually ate lunch and half of his breakfast or dinner, but never both. “Fine. You know what, I think we’re done. You’re obviously proficient.” Damian smirked then wrote something else on his notebook.

_ Frozen milk fat. _

“What?”

_ I would appreciate some frozen milk fat. _ Damian figured TIm just wanted a full sentence.

“What’s frozen milk fat?” 

“Ice cream, bimbo,” Jason came into the room. 

“Alfred would probably say no.”

“A lo mejor, pero Alfred no está aquí,” Jason said in perfect Spanish. “Пойдем, Дамиан. Мы будем есть мороженое!” Damian shot up and followed Jason into the kitchen for ice cream.

“He knows Spanish and Russian, but he can’t write English?” Tim was dumbfounded. What were they teaching the assassin kids?


	4. A Young Assassin’s Meeting with a Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian meets a princess! Plus, there's some Father-Son fluff at the end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, y'all!

Jason was sitting in the living room with his family watching a movie. He never thought he’d ever do that again since his dad left. In a way, Damian’s arrival paved the way for Jason’s return. He began to have an excuse to be around. Then, he realized he kinda liked being around. He mostly came for Damian, but the rest of the family wasn’t too bad either.

Bruce also felt as Jason did. Jason now left the manor with a ‘Goodbye’ instead of an astoundingly creative expletive. Damian brought to light a softer, more nurturing side of Jason that wasn’t as abrasive and belligerent. Bruce liked having his second son around again.

 

Damian wanted to go home. Gotham was okay. He got to see Jason more, but he was bored of being in the house all day. His mother usually took him on every other business trip she took. Plus, his grandfather sent Demon’s fist, Damian’s team, out bimonthly on missions. He couldn’t communicate with his ‘family’ for the first two months he was here, and even when he did, he found them to be a bit irksome. Being in Gotham was boring, but Damian’s mother and grandfather wanted him here, so he would stay. 

… 

“Damian,” Bruce said. Damian stopped training and turned around. He went up to his father, signed a greeting, and bowed. His father blushed at that. “So, Superman, he wants the League to… well, meet you. I think he’s being stupid, so you can say no, but everyone really wants to. Some of the have kids, nieces, and nephews in the vigilante business around your age too. You could make friends.” Damian looked at his father, trying to see if the man was serious. It seemed that he was. Damian nodded, wanting to please his father, and returned to training. He could hear his father let out a big breath as he walked away.  

… 

Damian stood by his father and brothers’ side when they got to the Hall of Justice. Damian had no idea why the league wanted to meet him. For all he knew, they could know he’s Heir to the Demon and try to influence him. 

 

The Superman came in first. “Hi, Damian,” he said sweetly. He crouched down to the boy’s eye level. Damian hated when people did that. It made him appear small and childish, more so than he already did anyway. Damian nodded. Superman held his hand out and Damian shook it. “The Justice League is really excited to meet you!” Damian fought the urge to roll his eyes and nodded again. “Batman,” Superman said excitedly, “He’s so cute.”

“Clark,” Bruce said, “Shut up.”

“Names,” Tim interjected.

“I know,” Bruce said in his Batman voice. 

“I’ll go get the guys!” Superman practically ran out. A minute later, tons of people entered the room. They got kind of close to Damian, but most people were too scared of his father to touch the cute boy. Damian stood stiffly and kept drifting closer and closer to Jason. After most of the people left, the Bat Family stood in front of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. 

“You look like a warrior. I’m a warrior,” Diana said proudly. Damian smirked and nodded. 

“She’s a princess,” Jason whispered. 

“I have a nephew about your age. His name is Wally. You should meet him!” Barry was excited. Superman tried to touch Damian’s hair and the boy threw a Kryptonite ninja star at him. Barry caught and got rid of it before it hit the man. “Did you just try to kill Superman?” Barry as gaping. Diana looked at him with intrigue. 

“Use your words,” Dick reminded Damian. Jason laughed then.

“Good job,” Jason said. Diana went up to the boy and picked him up. Surprising everyone, Damian let her. He liked princesses.

“Your boy is skilled, Bruce,” she said admiringly. 

“Why can she hold you, but I can’t get near you,” Superman complained.

“Shut up, Clark,” everyone said at the same time. Diana walked away with Damian. 

“Are we going to get him back,” Tim asked. 

“He’s good,” Jason said. Tim looked at Bruce.

“Free babysitting,” he said and walked to the zeta tubes. Dick shrugged and followed. Tim looked at Jason. 

“Fine, let’s go.” They went to find Damian and Diana. 

… 

Diana took Damian to the kitchen. Damian took out his notepad.

_ Are you a princess? _ Diana laughed.

“Yes. I am princess of Themyscira. Are you hungry?” 

_ Frozen milk fat, please. _ Diana’s eyes lit up. “I love frozen milk fat! Which do you like best? I favor the one with the coco beans.” Damian nodded his head in agreement. She put him down on the counter and made them two bowls of ice cream. She handed him the bowls and picked him back up. They were walking down the hallway to a TV room when Tim and Jason found them. Diana and Damian ignored them and kept on. 

“Why does he like her,” Tim asked. Jason shrugged.

“She’s awesome. Plus, she’s a princess. I think Damian likes that.” Jason had always liked Wonder Woman too.  

“You’re not that bad, Hood.”

“Yeah I am, and I’m not afraid to admit it.” Tim chuckled as they walked back to the nearest zeta tubes back to the manor. They figured Diana would bring Damian back when they were done.

 

Diana and Damian sat in a TV room and watched a nature documentary while they ate their ice cream. “Why don’t you talk,” Diana asked when they finished. Damian shrugged. “Would you like to? Talk I mean.” Damian shrugged again. “Have you tried?” Damian shook his head. She nodded. “Where is your mother?” Damian wrote on his notebook.

_ She is with Grandfather at Nanda Parbat. _

“Who is your grandfather?”

_ Ra’s al Ghul. _ Her eyes widened. The League of Assassins is evil, but she figured Damian couldn’t be. He was just a little boy after all. It did explain his demeanor.

“You are truly a warrior,” she said warmly. He nodded his head and grinned softly. 

_ I will be Ra’s one day. I’m heir to the demon.  _

“Would you like to spar?” Damian shot up and nodded enthusiastically. 

 

Diana took him to spar and he won. She was happy no one else was there to see. “You are a good fighter. Your skill will only get better.” Damian blushed a bit. “Let us spar again.” As they fought, Diana could see what a threat Damian was and would be. She needed to speak with Clark and Bruce about this. His future was something they needed to ensure wouldn’t end badly for them. They spared for a few more hours, then Damian tired out. “Let’s get you home,” she said softly as she picked him up. He was sleep before they got to the zeta tubes.

… 

“Hey, Aunt Diana,” Dick said as she came into the cave with a sleeping Damian. “Aww, you tired Dami out,” he singsonged. Jason came up and took him from her. “He loves her, Jay!”

“Shut up, Dickface,” Jason whispered as he left to put Damian in bed. 

“I need to speak with Bruce, Dick. where is he?”

“He’s in his study. You can go up. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said evenly as she walked up. Diana walked to the study and saw Bruce working. “Bruce,” she said.

“Diana,” he said with an equal lack of enthusiasm. 

“I need to speak with you concerning your son, Damian.” Bruce looked up.

“What about?”

“His family ties. His grandfather is Ra’s, yes?” Bruce nodded. 

“Yes. His mother is Talia al Ghul. she leads Leviathan. We’re working on removing that influence, but he’s loyal to them to death.”

“What are we doing about this? He’s going to be a formidable when he’s older. We’ll need him with us.”

“I know. I’m working on a plan for that. His relationship with Jason should help. Damian listens to him.” Diana nodded. 

“Clark and I will meet more with you on it later. Goodbye, Bruce.”

“Bye.”

… 

“Jason,” Bruce said. Jason looked up from the case he was working on.

“How’d you find me?” Bruce looked at him for a minute.

“You’re sitting in the middle of the kitchen.” Jason looked around.

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I need you to speak to Damian.”

“About?”

“The League.”

“Why?”

“We need to ease him away from it.”

“Why? He didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes, but, I don’t want him going down the wrong path.”

“Like me,” Jason said soberly.

“Like Talia and Ra’s.”

“What did the League ever do to you?”

“Damian’s the heir to both of their organizations.”

“I know. You can’t change him, Bruce.” 

“Please just talk to him.”

“No, Bruce. I’m not your soldier you can just send to push your agenda.”

“Jaylad--”

“Don’t ‘Jaylad’ me. I know you’re trying to mess with my head.” Bruce came up.

“I do… care for you, Jason.” Bruce was so emotionally constipated. Jason wasn’t sure if Bruce loved him. Dick said the man did, but Bruce had never said it. Jason wasn’t sure that he could say it. He decided to give Bruce the benefit of a doubt. 

“I know,” Jason said softly. Bruce put a hand on Jason’s shoulder. Jason grabbed it. “I love you too, Bruce.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post more tomorrow!


	5. A Young Assassin’s Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian has anxiety about pleasing his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More as promised!

Jason and Dick were taking Damian to the zoo. He seemed to take an interest in animals, so it seemed like a good idea. Then Ra’s thought today was a good idea for a test. Damian pulled a collapsible katana out of his… well no one knew where he got it. He attacked the assassins while Jason and Dick rushed to get civilians out of the way. When they came back for Damian they were met with a dead bodies strewn all over the ground. Dick had to fight back the urge to vomit. Jason, being a guy who would send seven heads to someone, wasn’t too bothered. “Damian,” he called. Then he saw the boy. He walked up and Talia was standing there. 

“You were adequate, my son.” She gave him a small smile. He bowed. “Father will be calling you tomorrow to see your training progress. Do impress him.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead and ladder from a helicopter dropped. She climbed on and was gone.

“So, a test,” Jason said. “If the goal was to kill them all, good job.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“They’re all dead,” Dick said in horror.

“That’s what assassins do, Dickie,” Jason said, trying to lighten the situation.

“You can’t just kill people, Dami,” Dick said softly. His phone rang. “Bruce?... we’ll be there.” Dick hung up. “Bruce wants us home now. I think he’s mad.” 

 

They went home quickly, and Bruce was waiting for them. “What happened,” he said evenly, staying as calm as he could.

“Talia sent a test. Damian passed with flying colors.” Jason was being blunt. Damian smirked. 

“You think it’s funny to murder people? It’s not, Damian.” The boy stood his ground. Jason stepped in front of him a bit. “That’s unacceptable. I don’t care what they taught you. When you’re in Gotham, you don’t kill.” Damian stood as a soldier.

“Go to your room,” Bruce’s voice was more like Batman’s now. Damian bowed. Then the boy went away calmly, not rushing or trembling. He was trained for this. He could calm himself down. Jason went after him. 

“Bruce,” Dick said. “He wasn’t taught any better. We have to teach him, not scold him.” Bruce grunted and left.    

 

Jason didn’t see Damian when he first entered the room. “Damian,” he called. The boy came as he always did. Damian sat down against the foot of his bed. Jason sat next to him.

_ I didn’t mean to disappoint _ . He was signing.

“I know.” Jason went to hug Damian and the boy flinched. He noticed Damian was staring into space. “Damian.” Jason snapped his fingers in front of Damian’s face. Damian began to hyperventilate. “Hey, Damian. It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re in your room in the manor.” Jason snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s face again. Damian wasn’t responding. Jason noticed Damian was signing, but it was too fast for even him to understand.

“Damian, you have to breathe.” Damian didn’t respond. “Hey,” Jason grabbed Damian’s face. He waited for Damian’s eyes to focus on his. “Breathe.” Jason showed Damian an over-exaggerated breath. Damian tried, but began to cough. Jason rubbed soothing circles in the boy’s wrist with his thumb. “It’s okay. Try again.” After awhile of just sitting with the boy until the episode passed, Damian’s breathing slowed and he slumped against Jason. “You okay?” Damian looked at Jason, but didn’t respond. Jason picked him up and put him in his lap. The boy was limp against Jason’s chest. “It’s okay, buddy.” Jason carded his hands through Damian’s hair. Jason wondered what had brought on this episode. It was probably something Bruce said. It took him somewhere else in his mind. Damian’s breathing deepened and the boy’s eyes drooped. Jason got up to put him in bed and the boy clinged to him. “I’m not going anywhere.” Damian’s grip loosened and he closed his eyes. Jason sat on the bed and covered Damian with a blanket. 

… 

Damian woke up about an hour later. He looked up  at Jason, stretched, then laid his head down and closed his eyes again. “You okay?” Damian nodded his head in Jason’s abdomen. Jason picked him up and flipped him around. Damian’s back was on Jason’s chest now. “What’s the word?” Jason was asking what happened that took Damian there. Damian shrugged. Jason began to rub Damian’s wrist again.

“We can go back to the zoo another day since your mom decided to crash,” Jason said softly. Damian shook his head.

_ Aquarium _ . That made Jason laugh. 

“Okay.” Damian yawned. “Still tired?” Jason figured panic attacks always were tiring. The boy answered by turning back on his abdomen. Jason chuckled. He was going to let Damian sleep until dinner when someone knocked on the door. Tim walked into the room.

“Dinah’s here for Damian.”

“For what,” Jason asked.

“They read or something.”

“Damian reads at a college-student level.”

“I don’t know why they do what they do. Just wake him up.”

“He’s good here. Tell her to go away in high society Tim speak.” Tim rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed. “Don’t try it, replacement. You’ll live to regret it. Well, more like you won’t.” Tim took a step back.

“Jason, stop being difficult.”

“I’m just helping Damian out. Goodbye.”

“Damian,” Dinah asked. She popped her head into the room. “Oh, hi, Jason.” Jason glared at her. He never liked Dinah. She used to throw herself at Bruce. She still would be if Oliver hadn’t finally gotten her. “Would you wake Damian up for me?”

“No,” Jason said. 

“We were just going to--”

“He doesn’t like you guys trying to make him do things he’s not comfortable with. If, and only if, he wants to talk, he’ll do it on his terms.” Dinah was speechless. 

“I-- um… I’ll go now,” she said quietly as she slipped out the room.

“How protective,” Tim said with mock enthusiasm.

“Shut up.” Tim was laughing as he left. Damian stirred a bit, but stayed asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come later today! (Check around 7-8p Central Time)


	6. A Young Assassin’s Smart Big Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Damian bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy! I may post more later today.

Tim wasn’t sure what he and Damian were. He was pretty sure Damian saw him as a rival, all of them really, but sometimes the boy would hang out with Tim. Like, when Dick and Jason were gone, Damian would come around Tim. He wouldn’t start conversation. He’d just come sit by him and do his own thing. Tim wasn’t sure what to think of it.

 

Damian wasn’t sure what he thought of Tim either. On one hand, the boy was supposed to be his enemy. He was supposed to be at his father’s side, not Tim. On the other hand, Damian found Tim’s intellect fascinating. He talked about things Jason and DIck never did. Damian would never admit it, but he found Tim’s take on how Hitler inspired generations riveting. 

 

One day, when Jason was in Hong Kong helping Cass and Dick was in Bludhaven, Damian came into Tim’s room. Tim was sitting on his bed planning a mission for the Titans. Damian didn’t bother knocking since the door was open. He came and planted himself at the end of Tim’s bed on the floor. Tim didn’t comment. He just gave Damian a quick ‘Hey’ and kept working. About an hour later, Tim got up and headed to the cave to sharpen his birdarangs. 

 

As he did the first time, Damian followed Tim and sat down on the training mats a few feet away from Tim. Tim was going to ask, but neither he nor Damian was good with emotions and he didn’t want to start a talk he wouldn’t know how to finish. So, Tim and Damian practically ignored each other and did their own thing once again.

 

Alfred came in about half an hour later. “What are you boys up to?” Damian and Tim both shrugged. Alfred, seeing a prime opportunity for brotherly bonding, decided to get the boys to do something together. “Why don’t you boys go upstairs and watch a movie while I clean the cave?” Damian and Tim both froze. Alfred went up to Tim and touched his shoulder. Tim got the message and stood up. 

“C’mon, Damian,” he said kindly, offering the boy a small smile. Damian stared at Tim for a minute, so Tim held out his hand. Damian jumped up and grabbed it. Though the boy wouldn’t admit it, Damian liked to be around someone older than him. He was his mother’s shadow whenever she was home, and Ra’s when she was absent, so he adjusted accordingly and always took to following someone. The holding hands was just instinctual with being a kid.

 

Tim didn’t mind holding hands with Damian or letting the boy follow him. He could tell it reassured the boy. Tim led the boy upstairs and to the screening room. “What do you want to watch?” Damian shrugged. He’d only ever seen a movie twice. Jason took him shortly after he first came to Gotham and a movie night they had. 

 

Tim looked through the movies until he found one about a cartoon animal. He figured Damian would enjoy it. Tim put the DVD in the player and pressed play. Then he went to sit by Damian on a sofa that was in the middle of the room. A few minutes into the movie, Alfred brought a blanket for the boys. As the movie progressed, Damian shifted closer and closer to Tim, by the halfway mark, Damian was in Tim’s lap. Tim realized that he kind of liked being a big brother. Damian realized that Tim’s lap, though no where near as secure as Jason’s, wasn’t too bad and that following Tim was enjoyable.

… 

When Bruce got back from his banquet, he noticed that the house was quiet. His boys were well behaved enough, but never quiet. Even with Jason gone, he figured the young man would have given Damian some pranks to pull. Damian, being a kid who always strived for success and approval, would do them even better than Jason planned. But, there was none of that. It was quiet, and that scared him even more. “Alfred,” Bruce called. Alfred came from the kitchen.

“Yes, Master Bruce?”

“Where’re the boys?” Alfred smiled warmly.

“I instigated some well needed quality time.” Bruce smirked.

“How?” Alfred pointed down the hallway.

“I’m sure the world’s greatest detective has the ability to find that out for himself.” Bruce chuckled and went down the hallway. He found Tim and Damian asleep in the screening room. Damian was in Tim’s lap with his arms to Tim’s chest, and had his head in the crook of Tim’s neck. Tim had his arms around Damian and his head laid limp against the back of the couch. Bruce walked in quietly, but Damian still woke up. He looked at Bruce with droopy eyes, then went back to sleep on Tim. Bruce pulled the blanket up on them and turned the TV off. Bruce left, but not before snapping a picture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but soooo sweet!


	7. A Young Assassin Meets with the Justice League

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as the title says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may not be able to post anymore today (I'm on a school trip this whole week), but I'll do my best!

Damian was nervous. Apparently, the whole founding members of the Justice League wanted to see him. He wasn’t sure if they were going to lock him up somewhere or try to turn him. He knew why they wanted to see him. He was the heir of two major organizations that they found villain. Ra’s and Talia weren’t villains in Damian’s opinion. They just didn’t follow the same rules.  

 

He didn’t want to see them. He didn’t need them trying to convince him that killing was wrong, or that he’d be evil when he grew up. He did want to see the princess again. He liked her. She was a formidable sparring partner also. Damian decided he wouldn’t hide and that he would go, but only to see the princess. 

… 

Damian was escorted by his Father to the meeting. Jason came to translate since Bruce wasn’t that good at signing yet. He stood in the front of the room proudly. He would not show fear or hesitation. His father took a seat at the long silver table to the right of Superman and Jason stood to the side. “Damian,” Superman said with a serious tone. “We’re here to discuss your future.” Damian knows he means to make the Justice League allies with the future League of Assassins and Leviathan. Damian nodded. “Have you anything to say to that?” Damian shook his head. “Okay, we want you to know that the Justice League is an ally.” Damian smirked. That was basically the total opposite of what his mother and grandfather said. 

_ What’s so funny? _ Jason signed.

_ Mother and Grandfather said their enemies.  _ Jason smirked as well. 

“What’s he saying,” Green Lantern asked. 

“Nothing,” Jason chuckled.

“Didn’t seem like nothing.”

“Move on, Hal,” Jason said. Hal scoffed.

“Anyway,” Superman continued, “We see the League of Assassins and the Leviathan Organization as partners. Do you?” Damian shrugged. “Do you not know?” Damian shook his head and signed. 

“He said Ra’s and Talia like Batman and his operatives.” Jason snickered at the word ‘operatives.’

“Hood, be serious,” Batman said.

“Sorry, Batman,” Jason said. “I’ll try,” he mimicked Batman’s voice. The Justice League always wondered how the all-serious Batman ended up with such kids. Damian was the only one who even had a demeanor close to Batman’s. Damian rolled his eyes at Jason. 

“What have they told you of the Justice League?” Damian signed again.

_ That your deluded fanatics that dress way too brightly to be even a beginner at stealth. _ Jason smirked.

“They say you all are ‘special.’” Jason was having fun translating.

“Hood,” Batman growled. “I know that’s not all he said.”

“Yeah, well. I’m trying to spare your feelings from the speech of a little kid.”

“A literal translation please,” Superman said.

“In that case, you all are deluded fanatics that dress way too brightly to even be beginners in stealth.” Everyone but Batman had their jaws dropped.

“They’re right about the suits,” Batman said. 

_ I like the princess _ . Damian signed.

_ Me too! She’s so hardcore.  _ They looked at Jason. “We like princesses.” Diana smiled.

“And kings?” Aquaman was insulted.

_ Ra’s is royalty. _

“Ra’s is royalty,” Jason said. Aquaman rolled his eyes. Superman cleared his throat.

“Damian, I’m going to be straight with you. When Ra’s retires, we want to have a better relationship with the League of Assassins and Levithan than we do now. Do you understand why?” Damian nodded. “Explain for us.”

_ You all know that I’ll be better than Ra’s. Ra’s agrees. I’ll be the most powerful man in the world when he and my mother retire. Ra’s could never put an end to you so that he could pursue his plans for the world. I can. The plan’s been final for a year. _ Jason gulped.

“I umm. Well, you sure you want them to hear that?” Damian nodded. “Dames, I…” Jason took a deep breath. “He said that you all know that he’ll be more of a threat than Ra’s and that he’ll be the most powerful man in the world when he and my mother retire.” Damian smirked at Jason.

_ Coward. _

“Hey! I’m no coward. I’m smart.”  _ They’ll lock you up. _

_ They can’t hold me.     _

“Solid point. Okay, I’m a chicken.”

“What?”

“He said more, but I’m going to be scared for him and not repeat the last part.”

“Hood,” Batman said calmly, “Triumph Bonneville.” Jason gasped.

“Forget fear. Damian said that he has the resources to destroy you. That’s basically the one thing Ra’s can’t do. Can I have the helmet that matches it?” Batman nodded. Jason pumped his arms in victory. 

“Calm down,” Batman said. Jason stood still again. Superman continued.

“Well, you don’t want to use said resources?” He said it as if it was a question. Damian shrugged again.

_ Depends on your actions. _

“The ball’s in your court,” Jason said. Superman smiled at Damian warmly.

“Have you ever flown before?” He was trying to distract Damian and change the subject.

_ In a plane _ . Damian signed in all seriousness.

“He’s flown in a plane.”

“Would you like to fly without one?” Damian shook his head. That threw Superman for a loop.

“No one cares, Clark. You can fly. Tons of people can, myself included.” Batman said.

“No you can’t,” Hal accused.

“In a plane,” Batman said. Damian was actually entertaining Bruce. 

“You want an ally in the Justice League, yes?” Diana was speaking now. Damian shrugged.

“He’d like you to be his queen,” Jason said. Damian threw a knife at his head. Jason barely dodged it.

_ You know I’m betrothed to Mara. _

“Yeah, but we both know you can do better, and whose better than her.” Jason pointed at Wonder Woman.

_ Mother is. _

“You can’t marry your mother.”

_ You can have her. My heir will need a cousin with which to spar. _

“Wonder Woman,” Jason said happily, “Congratulations! You’re my betrothed! The great heir to the Demon, Hafid al Ghul, has said so.”

“Hood, out,” Batman growled. 

“You know you need me.” Batman growled.

“Don’t speak unless Damian says anything else please, Hood,” Superman said. The rest of the table was shocked at the one side of Damian’s and Jason’s conversation they understood. “Damian, we want to partner with your regime, your future one.” Damian was tired of standing there. He wanted a nap, but no kid would admit that. 

_ I’ll consider it. Are we done? _

“He said he’ll consider it and can he go.” Superman nodded. Jason grabbed Damian’s hand and they walked out.

_ Good translating. _

“Thanks,” Jason said as they rounded a corner.

“Batman,” Diana said. “Do you see the threat this boy holds?”

“Of course I do.”

“This all could have been avoided if Batman wore a condom,” the Flash said.

“We didn’t have intercourse that time,” Bruce murmured.

“What,” Superman squeaked. Everyone's heads flew around.

“Are you admitting to, one, having had sex with a villain, and two, multiplied times.” Batman didn’t answer.

“She is kinda hot. I’d hit that,” Flash murmured. The other men at the table agreed. Diana scoffed.

“Men.”

“Meeting adjourned. We’ll follow this up later,” Superman said. Everyone nodded and left.

… 

Damian and Jason waited by the zeta tubes. Damian wanted to say bye to the princess. Jason did too, but he blamed it on Damian. The Justice League came out and began to leave. Diana went up to them. “Goodbye,” she said sweetly. She gave Damian a kiss on the cheek. The boy turned red as she went into the tube.

“Damian’s got a crush,” Jason singsonged. “Is she actually my betrothed? If so, I’m totally fine with that.”

“Hood,” Batman warned.

“What? Damian’s heir needs a cousin. He said so himself.” Damian nodded. Batman sighed deeply and programmed the tube for them to go home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Comment your thoughts!


	8. A Young Assassin and His Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian bonds with Bruce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More tomorrow!

Bruce was troubled. What was troubling him was the little kid following him. He was too scared to ask the boy what he needed, so he pretended he didn’t notice. He figured it may have something to do with all the boys being gone, but he wasn’t sure. He wanted to ask Alfred, but he couldn’t with Damian right there. Thankfully, Alfred helped him.  
“Master Damian, would you go find my gardening gloves? I believe I left them outside.” Damian ran out of the room. He didn’t like Alfred doing all the housework. His grandfather gave older servants supervisory roles. He helped whenever the man would let him. “Master Bruce, I am sure you’re wondering why the young master is following you.”  
“What’s he doing,” Bruce asked.  
“It seems the young Master Damian is accustomed to always having a companion with him. You’ve noticed how he follows his brothers at pretty much all times. You should try doing an activity with him.”   
“Oh, that makes sense. Thanks, Alfred.”  
“At your service, Master Bruce.” Damian came in a minute later with the gloves. “Thank you,” Alfred said warmly as he left. ‘That man’s diabolical,’ Bruce thought. Alfred gave Bruce a look and left.  
“Damian,” Bruce said. The boy looked at his father attentively. Bruce didn’t know what to say next. “I-- What do you do in your freetime?” Damian began signing, but it was too fast. “If you wouldn't mind slowing down.” Damian tried again.  
I train, do my schoolwork, read, and draw. Bruce never saw the boy drawing.   
“May, I see some of your pictures.” Damian blushed then nodded. Bruce stood up and Damian took his hand. This makes Bruce remember when Dick first came. He wasn’t used to holding hands with anyone. Jason and Tim weren’t the hand holding type, so it surprised Bruce that Damian did. The boy was an assassin after all.

Damian led Bruce into his room and opened a drawer. Bruce notice how austere the room was. Unlike the other boys, Damian didn’t have posters or medals or even a calendar. Bruce knew Ra’s believed in simple living, so that could be a part of it. He wondered if Damian wanted any of those things. Damian handed Bruce a sketchbook, which looked to be one of many, and stood straight waiting for approval. Bruce was tempted to say ‘at ease, soldier,’ but he didn’t want to mock the boy, especially when Damian wouldn’t understand the joke.

“These are good,” Bruce said, in awe of the sheer skill Damian had. Damian blushed and nodded a thank you. Bruce looked at the pictures a bit more and asked for another one. The father and son spent an hour looking through Damian’s pictures. He had five with him, but Bruce suspected he had some back at his grandfather’s compound also. “Thank you for showing me,” Bruce said when they finished. Damian nodded. Bruce tried to think of what else they could do. “Would you like to spar?” Damian’s eyes sparked with excitement.

Bruce didn’t know this, but Damian always wanted to spar with his father. He always felt jealous when any of the other boys got to. His mother said his father was a great fighter and that he could learn many martial art forms from his father in that aspect.

Bruce could tell Damian was a different fighter from his brothers. Dick would play around alot, Jason got frustrated too easily, Tim overthought his every move and hesitated, but Damian, the boy looked like he was born fighting. He probably had been fighting since he was a toddler. Damian was efficient and put all his effort into fighting. He was quick on his feet and didn’t hesitate. Bruce wondered if the boy would ever consider vigilantism. Bruce hated that he had brought his kids into his war, but Damian would be in it either way. What if he got the boy on the right side at least? Damian was going to become Ra’s and take Talia’s spot, but he was a chance for change. Those groups were powerful. Plus, combine them with the Justice League, and crime could be practically eradicated.

There was one problem, though. Tim was his partner, and the boy has too many issues with abandonment for Bruce to replace him. He could partner the boy with Jason, but the killing Jason does is not the example Bruce wants to set. Maybe he could partner the boy with Dick. The man always jokes about having a sidekick, Flamebird. Bruce would think about it.


	9. A Young Assassin and a Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian meets Selina Kyle!

Damian was laying in his bed when he heard someone walking in the hallway. His father and brothers were on patrol, and Alfred had retired, so Damian grabbed his sword and prepared to gut a robber. How dare someone try to rob his father. Damian quietly followed the shadow into a room with collectibles from Asia. It grabbed a cat figure and turned around. Damian put a sword to its neck. He noticed it was a she, and she was very pretty. “Hello,” she said fearlessly. Her voice was silky smooth. “I’m Selina.” He put the sword down. Damian turned a light on and looked at her. “We have a casual thing, your father an I. I mostly see him at night. Our activities sometimes overlap.” she said. She had a cat suit on. She’s Catwoman. Damian thought she was pretty, but not as pretty as his mother. His mother told him that Catwoman was a harlot, but he had a feeling she was biased.

Selina laughed softly and picked Damian up. “You’re cute.” Damian usually didn’t like being called cute. He preferred the terms ‘deadly’ or ‘scary,’ but he liked the way she said it. “Cat’s got your tongue?” Damian didn’t know what that meant, so he shrugged. She bounced him on her hip as she thought. After a few minutes, she handed Damian the cat. “Don’t drop it,” she said as they walked out. They went to the cave and she situated them in Bruce’s chair. She pulled up a TV show and waited for Bruce to come home. Damian decided to stay and watch with her.

The first one to come in was Tim. “Selina?” He wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating from his lack of sleep. Maybe he should start sleeping so that he doesn’t have the possibility of hallucinations. Nah.   
“Hey,” she said nonchalantly, “I found a kitten.”  
“Were you taking the cat? B was going to give it to you for your birthday in a month.”  
“He can find me a new one. What’s the kitten’s name?” She gestured to Damian.  
“Damian. He’s Bruce’s.” Selena looked at the boy again.  
“Figures, that jaw line runs in the family. Who’s the mom?” Tim reddened.  
“Talia.”  
“Al Ghul?” Tim nodded. “Does he have a thing for bad girls or what?” Tim turned even redder. Damian wasn’t paying attention. The TV show was pretty interesting.  
“How’d that happen anyway?”  
“She stole his… specimen,” Tim got quieter as he said it.  
“That’s hardcore,” Selina laughed, not seeming bothered at the prospect of her kinda boyfriend having a kid by another woman. She knew Bruce wasn’t the cheating type. Bruce came in.  
“Selina,” he said, surprised.  
“Hey, Brucie. Were you gonna tell me you got a kitten?” Bruce looked at Damian. Before he could respond, Dick and Jason came in.  
“Somebody’s in trouble,” Dick singsonged as he headed to the showers with Tim. Jason chuckled and went up to Bruce.  
“Good luck,” he gave Bruce a pat on the back. “Let’s roll, Demon.” Damian got up and took Jason’s hand. Jason had taken to calling the boy Demon sometimes. Damian liked it.  
“I’m not mad, Bruce. Tim explained.” Bruce let out a breath. “Kitty’s cute.” She gave him a kiss and left.  
…   
The next morning, Bruce came into the kitchen to see his sons, Alfred, and the cat. Bruce backtracked. “What’s this?” Jason laughed at Bruce’s confusion and Tim was sleep, so Bruce looked to Dick.  
“This is Damian’s cat. He named it Alfred.”  
“Like the man?”  
“No, silly, the names have no relation,” Dick chuckled. Bruce looked at Damian. The boy could sense his eyes, but ignored him in favor of calling his mother to show her the cat.


	10. A Young Assassin and Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's asked an important question.

Damian was drawing on the roof when he heard Jason call his name. He quickly scurried down and went into the living room. “How do you do that,” Tim asked, in awe. 

“I’m just that good. Right?” Jason looked at Damian. 

_ I guess so _ . The boy signed.  _ What do you want? _

“Bruce wants you. He’s in his study.” Jason began to ‘oooh, you’re in trouble’ as Damian waled there. Damian didn’t think it was a punishment. Ra’s always made sure they were public.

 

“Hi, Damian,” Bruce said as Damian walked in. Damian nodded and stood in soldier’s position in front of the desk. “I’ve been thinking. Do you want to become a vigilante?” Damian thought for a minute, then shook his head. “Why?”

_ I will be Ra’s. Being Ra’s is better. _

“You can be both.” Damian thought for a minute more. Then took out his notepad. He knew his father wouldn’t know the vocabulary to have this conversation.

_ Why would I want to be a vigilante? _

“You could help people.”

_ Ra’s helps people. _ That was debatable.

“You could join the league one day.” Damian looked confused for a minute.

_ I’ll own the League. _

“The Justice League.”

_ I already have a league. _

“Dick needs a partner. You wouldn’t want him to get hurt on patrol for lack of a skilled fighter.” Damian knew Dick was an idiot. He didn’t wish harm on the young man.

_ What about Todd? _ Jason was more of an idiot than Dick even. 

“Flamebird,” Bruce said. Trying to change the subject. Damian wanted to patrol with Jason.

_ I’ll consider it. _ Damian bowed and walked out.

 

Damian walked out to Jason, Dick, and Tim standing there. Damian knew they would be. They were horrible at stealth. “He doesn’t want to be your partner, Dickie. I’ll call you Mini Hood. You can pick a color when you’re older.” Damian smirked. He kind of liked the name.

“What about Flamebird,” Dick whined. “Timmy, will you be Flamebird?” Tim looked at Dick.

“I’m Robin.”

“Robin was my name first, so I can take it away. Timmy, you are stripped of Robin.” Tim thought Dick could actually do that.

“What? That’s not fair.”

“Is so.”

“I only became Robin because you wouldn’t!”

“Too bad. Timmy, you are fired.” Tim ran away. “Wait, did he think I was serious?”

“Dick, you idiot,” Jason chuckled. “Let’s go plan your suit, Mini Hood.” Jason took Damian’s hand and Dick ran after Tim.

…

Dick found Tim in a random room in the manor. Tim’s back was to Dick and he had his knees to his chest. “Timmy,” Dick whispered.

“What?” Tim sounded mad, but Dick could hear that he’d been crying.

“I was joking.” Dick came around and pulled Tim into a hug. He could see the tear streaks. “I’m sorry.” Tim leaned into Dick’s hug and nodded. 

“Bruce isn’t going to let Damian patrol with Jason. Will he make Damian Robin if he doesn’t want to go with you?”

“I don’t know, Timmy, but you’ll always have a place here.”

“I don’t want to be replaced.” Dick understood. He was mad when Jason became Robin. Jason meant that the man that raised Dick thought that Dick wasnt good enough, and that hurt. Eventually, Dick came to love Jason, but he died shortly after that. He always regretted not being nicer to Jason when he was Robin. Jason had his own resentments towards Tim. He didn’t quit like Dick did. He was forced out. Jason was okay to Tim, but it was sometimes painfully obvious that he didn’t like the teenager. He didn’t want Tim hating Damian.

“You won’t. You’re unique, Bruce could never replace you. If he tries, you can come with me.” Dick smiled. “Nightwing and Flamebird take to the skies.” Tim gave a bitter laugh. Dick hugged him tighter. “It’ll be okay, Baby Bird.” Tim nodded, wishing that he could believe Dick.

… 

Damian decided against being a vigilante. Well, more like Ra’s did. His mother liked the idea, but Ra’s didn’t want his training being diluted or for the boy to indoctrinated with whatever Batman believed. 


	11. A Young Assassin and the Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talia and Selina meet.

Damian had taken a liking to Selina. She wasn’t around much, but he and Jason both hung around her when she was. Selina liked the boy. She’d never wanted kids, but she had always possessed motherly instincts. She would hold Damian in her lap whenever he was there.

… 

Talia decided to visit Gotham. She wouldn’t admit it, but she missed her son, and it was always a treat to see her beloved. Talia decided that she would visit for a day during the week she didn’t have any trips.

 

Talia was welcomed by Alfred and led to the living room where she was told the ‘whole family’ was. She walked into the room to see her son in the lap of no other than Selina Kyle. “Get your hands off my son,” she said coldly and snatched Damian away. The boy was always trusting of whoever she and her father trusted. Talia figured he extend that to his father. She’d have to instruct him better. She never liked Selina. Selina was always trying to steal her beloved. The cretin failed to understand that Bruce Wayne belonged to Talia al Ghul and no one else. Now, she was trying to steal Talia’s son. Talia would have to find a way to explain to her father why killing Selina Kyle would further the League’s cause. Her father tended to stay out of Gotham out of respect for Bruce. “My beloved, how could you let this trash put her hands on our child?” Talia was mad. She held Damian close.

“I’m not trash,” Selina stood up. She was mad now. Talia brushed Damian’s clothes. “I didn’t get him dirty! What’s wrong with you?” Jason took Damian from Talia. It looked like they ladies were about to fight, and he didn’t want the boy to get caught in the crossfire.

“Calm down,” Bruce said. Everyone was silent and the tension was palpable. Damian sneezed. 

“I’m leaving,” Selina said.

“You should,” Talia sneered. Selina gave Talia the finger and left. Talia took Damian back. “My beloved, I’d appreciate if you don’t have our son around street trash.”

“Selina’s not trash, Talia, and stop instilling such ideals is Damian’s head.” Damian sneezed again. 

“Are you sick, Ibn? It’s probably this Gotham air. It’s purer in Father’s compound.” Talia took Damian to his room. She sat down in a chair and Damian sat at her feet. “How are you?”

_ I am fine. Was my last test adequate? _ Talia smiled warmly.

“You were sufficient. How are they treating you?”

_ Jason is-- Jason has admirable qualities. _

“Yes. Are the other boys okay?” Damian nodded. “Jason told me about that harlot, Drake. Father is prepared to take care of it.”

_ She is fine. Jason got rid of her. _

“I’m glad Jason is taking such good care of you, my love.” Damian told his mother all he had done in Gotham and she shared what she did on her trips. It was getting late, and he fell asleep soon after. She dressed him in his pajamas and put him in bed. “Until again, my love,” she said as she left.

 

When Talia walked out of Damian’s room, she went to find Jason. She found him in the kitchen. He was eating a pre-patrol snack with Dick and Tim. “Hey, Talia,” he said.

“Jason, I wanted to thank you for taking such good care of Ibn.” Jason blushed.

“It was his pleasure,” Dick cut in. “Jay’s such a good big brother.” Talia nodded. Talia was comfortable leaving Damian here now that she knew Jason would take care of him.


	12. A Young Assassin and His Favorite Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian and his big bro Jason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: A lot of fluff. It may be too much for the weak hearted.

“Get away from me before I kill you,” Jason yelled as he stormed into the cave. He threw his helmet on the ground. Tim was right behind him. Dick came from where he and Damian were sparring.

“Jason, I’m sorry I--” 

“Get. Away!” Tim kept following him. Jason pulled his gun out of the holster and pointed it at TIm’s head. Then he yelled in frustration and put the gun back. “Dick, get him away from me before I kill him,” Jason growled. Jason sounded like he actually was going to kill Tim, so Dick got between them and put a hand in front of Tim.

“Let him cool off, Timmy.” Jason went up the stairs. Damian grabbed Jason’s helmet from the floor and put it on a table close by. He was torn between going to see what was wrong and throwing a shuriken at Tim for making Jason angry. “What happened?”

“Well, I had a mission in crime alley…” That was Jason’s turf. “... And I saw Jason, so he offered to help. He was teasing me and I said something that crossed a line. It just slipped out, Dick. i swear, and--”

“What did you say,” Dick asked.

“I said that he was why his mom killed herself,” Tim whispered regretfully.

“Tim,” Dick gasped. “After how she died?”

“I know. It was stupid. I’m probably going to have to stay in a safehouse tonight. I don’t trust him not to shoot me.” Damian went to check on Jason, then came back and shook his head.

“See, Timmy. Dami said he won’t.”

… 

The next morning, Jason and Damian shunned Tim. (Read: Jason shunned Tim, and Damian followed him as usual.) When they came down to breakfast, Damian didn’t sit by Tim like he usually did. He sat by Dick and Jason sat by Damian. “I’m sorry,” Tim said. Jason wouldn’t talk to him. 

“You wanna go out tonight, Demon,” Jason asked. Damian nodded emphatically. “Good, we leave at 1900 hours.” Damian nodded again.

“Jason,” Tim said.

“Jay, he said he’s sorry,” Dick said.

“Who,” Jason asked.

“Timmy,” Dick said.

_ Who’s Tim? _ Damian signed.

“I don’t know who that is either, Demon.” Jason chugged his orange juice in one gulp. “Let’s roll,” he said as he got up with his hand out. Damian grabbed the hand and followed.

“What do I do,” Tim asked Dick.

“Don’t know, Timmy. You must’ve hurt him badly if he’s still holding a grudge.” Tim sighed. “Give him time.” Tim nodded.

… 

Later that night, Tim was on a mission with the Teen Titans. They had just finished a recon mission and were heading back to the tower when they were ambushed. Tim’s team was taken down by a shadow. Tim looked around, but couldn’t find anything. Then, everything went black.

 

Tim woke up in a room restrained. “You’re up,” Red Hood said. He had Damian with him, and the boy had a helmet of his own. How’d Jason get that on such short notice? Tim could see the rest of the team was already up. 

“Hood, what is this?”

“I think you know that, Robin.” Tim groaned. 

“I said I was sorry. I really am. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Of course you weren’t.” Jason crossed his arms. Tim looked at Damian. “This is Mini Hood.”

“You’re young,” M'gann said. Damian threw a knife that barely missed her head.

“You’re stupid,” Jason commented. “What should we do, Mini Hood?” Damian signed. “Torture? Sounds interesting, continue.” Damian signed some more. “That’s a good one. Ra’s or your mom?” Damian smirked before signing yet again. “An original? You’re diabolical!”

“Hood,” Tim called.

“Yes, little brother?”

“You’re brothers a villain,” Garth yelled.

“He prefers anti-hero,” Bart chimed in.

“I prefer-- Wait. How do you know that? Oh, you’re Wally’s annoying future relative.”

“You know my cousin! That’s so crash!”

“Shut up. Yes, Robbie?”

“Let them go. It’s between you and me.”

“Nah, where’s the fun in that?” Damian signed at Jason. “I don’t think so. M'gann, are you royalty on Mars?”

“No. why--”

“That’s a negative, Mini Hood. Okay, here’s the deal. You all have to fight Mini Hood. You win, all the team gets to go. You lose, oh well. Who’s first?”

“Me,” Superboy said.

“Kon, be careful.”

“He’s like six, Rob. I think I’ll be okay.” Superboy walked up to Damian and crouched. “Hey.” Damian kicked him away in the gut. “Fine, let’s play.” They begin to fight. Damian is easily winning. He didn’t even need his Kryptonite sword. Kon gets a hit on Damian. The boy is thrown into the wall and a sickening crunch is heard.

“Connor, he’s a kid,” M'gann shrieked. “Calm down!” Damian got back up and smirked a deadly smirk. He wiped the blood from his mouth and unleashed himself on Kon. Thirty seconds later, Kon was on the ground knocked out and bleeding. “You made him bleed,” M'gann said in awe. “Are you even human?”

“Of course he’s human,” Jason said. He p0oput Kon back in his restraints. “Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” M'gann said. Jason undid her chains and she went up to Damian. She went into his mind. She figured she’d beat him this way. She saw a small fissure in a wall he had built. She flew in. immediately, she was bombarded by pain. The images were so graphic and so rapid that she was overwhelmed. She screamed and came out. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she had her hands cupped over her mouth. Jason put her back in the cell. “H-he’s just a child,” she whispered. Everyone else was scared to try their luck now. Damian walked up to Jason and put his arms around Jason’s leg.

“Hood, please.” Jason could feel Damian. He was trembling a bit. He dug up whatever memories M'gann saw. Jason knew they haunted him. He’d had to wake Damian up from night terrors before. He pressed a button that released them all.

“Robin, you’re lucky.” Jason took Damian’s hand and they walked away into the shadows.

“What’s wrong with your brother,” Kon asked. He’d come to since the fight. 

“I messed up. Sorry you all had to go through that.”

“Is the little one your brother too,” M'gann asked. Tim thought for a minute. He’d never called Damian his brother before.

“Yeah,” Tim said. “He’s attached to Hood at the hip.”

“That’s cute,” M'gann said. Tim nodded as they headed off.

… 

“I’m sorry, buddy. Didn’t know she’d try that,” Jason said as they walked through the cave. Damian shook his head and sniffled. He’d be fine. They changed clothes and went into Jason’s room. Damian didn’t want to sleep alone, and Jason offered so that he didn’t have to admit it. “How’s the spine?”

_ Good as ever _ . Damian’s spine was artificial. His spine didn’t develop properly when he was grown, so his grandfather had it made for him. It bent and cracked like a normal spine, but put itself back together instantaneously. It was useful in these situations. Damian laid down on the bed and Jason sat beside him with a laptop. “I gotta check on some cases, but you can go ahead and go to sleep.” Damian nodded and went to sleep. Tim came in an hour later.

“What was that,” he yelled at Jason.

“Quiet down, Demon’s sleeping,” Jason didn’t look up. He was trying to ignore Tim before he did something hasty.

“I’m sorry! What more do you want me to say?” Jason didn’t respond. Tim walked up to him, and Jason pulled a gun out. Dick happened to be walking by when he saw.

“I warned you, Replacement.”

“Jay, put the gun down,” he said as he pushed Tim back and walked up to Jason slowly. Jason kept the gun pointed at Tim. Tim was ghostly pale. He didn’t want to die tonight. “Timmy’s sorry, Jay. He really is. Put the gun down, please?”

“No.” Dick got in front of Tim. 

“Jay, it’s fine. He didn’t mean it. C’mon, Jay.” 

“Don’t make me shoot you both,” Jason said quietly. Dick didn’t move from in front of Tim. Damian woke up to the noise and turned his head. He knew his father wouldn’t be pleased with Tim’s death. He also knew that Jason would eventually regret it. Damian sat up and put his hand on Jason’s. Jason still gripped the gun. Damian softly pushed down on Jason’s hand and the man put his arm down. Then, Damian put his hand on the gun. Jason released the gun, and Damian dismantled it and handed the pieces to Dick. Dick nodded a thank you and left the room with Tim.

 

Jason curled into himself. Soft, salty tears were running down his cheeks. Damian put an arm around him and laid his head against Jason’s leg. Eventually, Jason uncurled himself and Damian laid his head on Jason’s shoulder. “You’re a good brother,” Jason said. Damian smiled and signed into Jason’s hand. 

_ You too. _ They fell asleep shortly after.

… 

The next day, everyone was walking on eggshells. Dick told Damian to keep Jason away from Tim and that he would keep Tim away from Jason. Thankfully, Jason took Damian to Crime Alley with him. 

 

Every week, Jason would deliver paychecks to his workers and aid to whoever needed it. He also had a restaurant owner that ran a makeshift orphanage. Jason was sure to make sure the man had enough money to feed the kids and keep his business going. They didn’t come back until after dinner, so Damian went to eat his meal of the day while Jason went to his room. 

 

After eating, Damian went to find his big brother. When he walked in the room, Jason was hitting his the back of his head against the wall and had his knees to his chest. Damian thought he was doing it a bit too hard. He stood in front of Jason.

_ Are you okay? _ Damian signed. Jason responded.

“I’m fine. Just fine.” Jason didn’t cease banging his head against the wall. 

_ You should probably stop. You’ll hurt your head. _

“Can’t get anymore messed up than I am right now, kid.” They sat in there. Damian listened to the thump of Jason’s head against the wall. Jason’s eyes were closed now. Damian decided to go find Dick. He went down the hallway and throughout the clock. Tim and Dick were sparring. Damian tapped Dick.

“What’s wrong, Dami?” Damian pointed to the stairs and signed Jason’s name. “Is Jay hurt?” Damian wasn’t sure. He led Dick to Jason’s room. Dick could hear the thumping now. “Thanks, Dami,” he whispered. “Go sit by Tim.” Damian obeyed and left. Dick opened the door softly. “Hey, Little Wing.” Jason didn’t respond, he just kept banging his head against the wall. “You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Dick said as he came to sit by Jason. Dick didn’t touch Jason. The man may freak out and get violent. “You scared Dami.” That made Jason slow down. “Tim is sorry. He wants to apologize.” That made Jason start hitting harder. “Did you see Dami’s picture?” Dick was trying to distract him. Sometimes it made Jason stop.

“Yeah,” Jason said. Still thumping his head against the wall, but not as hard. 

“It’s pretty cute. He really captures your eyes.” Jason laughed bitterly and rested his head on the wall. Dick pulled Jason down into his lap. Jason was much bigger than Dick, but Dick didn’t care. He carded his hands through Jason’s hair. “You wanna talk about it?” 

“No,” Jason said quietly. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

“She loved you.” Jason didn’t respond. “She didn’t want to leave you.” Jason let out a choked sob. “It’s okay, Little Wing.” Dick rubbed soothing circles into his back.

“It’s not,” Jason whispered through his tears.

“Yes it is.” Dick wiped some tears off Jason’s cheek, “You shouldn’t hurt yourself like that.”

“Feels good.”

“No it doesn’t, Jay. I know it hurts.” Dick wrapped his arms around Jason. 

“Feels better than thinking.” Jason sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dick’s middle.

“Don’t worry about thinking. Just… breathe. Focus as you inhale and exhale. Do it for hours if you have too, but don’t think.” They sat there for a minute while Jason let his tears out. Dick felt Jason’s breathing deepen. “Here, Jay, get in bed. You’ll wake up with a crick in your neck if you sleep here.” Jason didn’t move. “It’ll be okay, Jay.” Jason slowly unwrapped his arms from around Dick, got up, and began to undress. “You’re not gonna shoot Timmy, right?” Jason shrugged and finished putting new clothes on. “Jay.”

“I wanna.” Jason sniffled. Dick gave Jason another hug. Jason laid down.

“But you’re not going to?”

“I need to.” Dick sighed and sat down by Jason.

“Set an example for Damian.”

“Demon’s killed more than me.”

“Jay, for me?”

“You’re not that special, Grayson.” Dick chuckled and got up. He was sure Jason was too tired to shoot Tim. He was for tonight at least.

“Good night, Jay.”

“Dick,” he said. Dick turned around. 

“Yes?”

“W-will you-- Nevermind.” 

“No, what?” Jason sniffled.

“Will you ask Bruce to c’mere?” Dick smiled softly. 

“Sure, Little Wing.” As Dick left out, he saw Damian. “Jay’s okay. You can go to bed.” Damian nodded and went to his room. Dick went to find Bruce. 

 

“Bruce,” Dick said as he walked into the cave.

“What?”

“So, Timmy hurt Jay’s feelings…” Bruce was still typing.

“Mmhm?”

“He talked about his mom.” Bruce stopped typing and turned around.

“Is Tim…”

“He’s fine.” Bruce let out a breath of relief. “Jay wants you.” Bruce was surprised. He was pretty sure Jason still hated him.

“O-okay.” Bruce got up and headed towards Jason’s room. Dick laughed at Bruce’s nervousness and went to head to bed himself.

 

Bruce walked into Jason’s room. “Jaylad,” Bruce said softly. Bruce came and sat by Jason’s head. Jason didn’t speak, but he wrapped his arms around Bruce’s middle. Bruce put a hand on Jason’s head and a hand on his back. 

“I want my mom,” Jason whispered. Bruce barely hear him.

“I know.” Jason began to cry. Bruce rubbed soothing circles in his back. “It’s okay. I got you.” Jason was sobbing uncontrollably as Bruce laid the young man’s head in his shoulder. Bruce shushed him gently and told him soft reassurances. Eventually, Jason’s sobs turned to tears, which turned into whimpers that became calm breaths made by a sleeping Jason. He was still on Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce laid him back on the bed gently and gave him a kiss on the forehead, before walking out. He knew staying the night would embarrass Jason.

… 

The next morning, Jason wouldn’t come out of his room or let anyone in, but Damian of course. “Where’s Master Jason,” Alfred asked at breakfast.

_ His room _ .  _ No one can come in. _ Damian signed.

“Will you bring him his breakfast?” Damian nodded and took the tray. He came back shortly and sat down. Damian didn’t eat breakfast, but he always sat with the others while they did. Bruce figured they’d tackle his one meal a day at a later date. One crisis at a time.

 

After breakfast, Bruce went to Jason’s room, trying to find the problem. “Jaylad,” he called. Jason didn’t answer. Damian went in and cracked the door for Bruce. Jason was laying in his bed, but Bruce was pretty sure he was awake. He saw Damian signing and Jason whispering replies. Damian came out a bit later.

_ He does not wish to speak with you. _ Damian said with a frown.

“Tell him I’ll come back later.” Bruce headed to his room to get ready for work. Damian nodded and went back in the room.

_ What’s wrong? _ Damian worried for his brother.

“Nothing.” Damian nodded and sat by Jason with a book. 

 

True to his word, Bruce came back later and knocked on the door. Damian followed right behind him. He had been training. Jason was sleep, so Damian let his father come in. He wanted Bruce to make sure everything was okay. “Thanks,” Bruce whispered as he came in. He came to the side of the bed Jason was on and looked at Jason. He was pale. Bruce held his hand to Jason’s forehead to check his temperature. Jason subconsciously leaned into the touch and sighed. He was a bit cold, but he’d always ran a bit cold after the pit. Jason’s eyes fluttered open and looked at Bruce, then he closed them again. “Jason.” Bruce’s hand was still holding Jason’s face now.

“Bruce,” he slurred, his eyes were still closed.

“You okay?” Jason sighed, but didn’t answer. “Jaylad,” Bruce called again.

“Mm?” Jason was falling asleep again.

“Are you okay?”

“Mmhm.” 

“Let me see your wrists,” Bruce said softly. He didn’t want to ask in front of Damian, but he couldn’t shake the boy. Jason had a history of cutting sometimes, so Bruce wanted to make sure they didn’t go down that road again.

“M’good.”

“Jay.” Jason pulled out his wrists sleepily. They were clean. No sign of blood or bandages. That was good. “Are you going on patrol?” Jason was already sleep again. Bruce decided having Jason stay in tonight would be good. He pulled the blanket to cover Jason more, brushed the bangs out of Jason’s eyes, and left.

… 

The next day, Jason was fine. He just needed a day without thinking. Damian was happy to have the man back.


	13. A Young Assassin and Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce tries to change Damian's eating habits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Jay&Bruce Fluff!!!

Damian didn’t eat much. They’d been trying to get the boy to eat three meals since his first day here, but he still only ate a meal a day. It wasn’t healthy to Bruce. The boy burned way too many calories training.“Damian, you need to eat,” Bruce said.

_ Not hungry. _ Damian really wasn’t hungry. He’d been eating a meal a day since before he could remember.

“Just try, Dami,” Dick said sweetly. Damian grabbed piece of toast. He could feel himself getting more and more nauseous after each bite. He finished it. Five minutes later, he was puking it up in the bathroom. They’d try again tomorrow, Bruce thought.

… 

Bruce tried to get Damian to try again today, but Damian wasn’t having it. He was tired of puking up food he didn’t want to eat in the first place. “Bruce,” Jason said after inhaling his own breakfast, “He’s good. It’s not like he’s too skinny anyway.” Jason loved food. Starving on the streets for a few years did that to you, but Damian was fine. He didn’t think the boy should be forced to eat.

_ Americans and their overindulgence. _ Damian signed.

“Then call me American,” Jason defended.

“I’m not American,” Dick said, insulted.

“He never said you were,” Jason chuckled.

“I don’t indulge,” Tim said.

“You need to,” Dick said as he flicked Tim’s arm. Tim was pretty skinny, but he still had a bit of muscle.

“Damian, eat,” Bruce said in a low tone. The boy tried eggs today. He ate a few bites. He could already feel it. Bruce glanced at him. “Keep it down.” Damian nodded. Damian was turning green. 

“Bruce,” Dick whispered. He nodded his head at Damian. Bruce ignored Dick. Dick sighed. “Bruce, let him go.” Bruce still ignored Dick. Dick gave Jason a look and Jason took Damian to the bathroom. They knew the boy would never disobey his father. “Bruce, if can’t eat, he can’t eat.” Dick went to check on Damian. When he came in, the boy was still retching and Jason was rubbing his back. After a minute, Damian sat down against the wall panting.

“You okay,” Jason asked. Damian nodded. His color was coming back. Damian still seemed a little out of it.

“Why don’t you and Dami go to the park or something with Tim,” Dick whispered to Jason. 

“Yeah,” Jason said. He went over to Damian. “Let’s go to the park, buddy.” Jason picked Damian up and they walked out. “Timbo, let’s roll!” Jason was yelling for Tim as they walked out the door. Dick went to find Bruce.

“Bruce,” Dick said firmly when he found the man in his study. 

“Dick.”

“You’re gonna make him sick. It’s okay if he doesn’t eat much. He’s not malnourished and when he does eat, he eats well.”

“He needs to be--”

“What? More normal? He’s an assassin and his dad is Batman. He’s never going to be normal.” Bruce was quiet for a minute.

“It’s not healthy,” he said. Dick scoffed.

“Name one thing any of us do that is healthy. We’re vigilantes. We never get proper sleep. We have unresolved and unacknowledged coping mechanisms. We’re not healthy, so leave him alone.” Bruce never thought about it in that way.

“Okay,” he said. He didn’t know what else to say. Dick nodded and left.

… 

Jason is starting to think he should have taken Tim and Damian to the movies instead. The boys were standing in front of the playground staring.

_ Is this a training apparatus _ , Damian asked.

“No, it’s a playground.”

_ I don’t know how to use those. _

“Well learn.” Damian shook his head. He still felt sick and he wanted his mother.

“My nannies used to take me here sometimes,” Tim said with a nostalgic bitterness. He used to wish his parents would take him here.

‘Well this is depressing,’ Jason thought. “Okay,” Jason said, “Let’s stop the feeling sorry for ourselves and go play.” Damian walked up to the slide and climbed the ladder carefully. He got to the top then looked confused as to what to do next. “Slide down, Demon,” Jason yelled. Damian decided against it and scrambled down the ladder. “Why didn’t you go?” Damian just shook his head. He remembered when he was sent tumbling down an erupting volcano for climbing it too slowly. He was burnt pretty badly. 

“Can we go,” Tim asked. Damian nodded. Jason rolled his eyes and began to walk to the car.

“Fine, let’s go.” Jason sighed. “Where do you guys want to go then?”

“Can we get ice cream?” 

“Okay.” They got in the car and left. 

… 

Tim and Damian were in higher spirits when they came back to the manor. Tim went to the Titans Tower and Damian grabbed his sketchbook. Jason was polishing his guns with Damian by his side when Bruce came into the cave. He wanted to ask if Damian had any ice cream, but not in front of the boy. Dick could see his internal struggle as he came back from flying on the trapeze. “Dami,” Dick called. Damian came attentively. “Wanna come with me to visit Babs?” Damian wasn’t sure if he liked Barbara or not. “She’s with Cass and Steph,” Dick singsonged. It was no secret that Damian liked Cass. She was mute when she came, but Barbara taught her how to talk. That’s not why Damian liked her though. He loved sparring with her. She was a worthy opponent. Dick liked having Cass spar with Damian because she taught him how to use the assassin moves non-lethally. Damian nodded and took Dick’s hand. Once they were gone, Bruce approached Jason.

“Hi, Jaylad.” Jason didn’t turn from his guns. 

“B,” he said.

“I heard you all had ice cream.” Jason knew what was coming, but he wanted to make Bruce ask.

“Yep.”

“Did Damian have any?”

“Nope.”

“I’m worried about his health.”

“He’s healthy as a kid can be. Even more so because of his training. If you keep going on about this eating thing, he may end up having some mental health problems. He’ll end up with Bigorexia or something.”

“I just want to make sure he’s getting enough nutrition.”

“He is, Bruce. Don’t worry about it.” Bruce sighed.

“How are you doing, Jason?” Jason froze. He didn't think about how he was doing. He tried not to. It never ended well.

“Don’t know,” he murmured and continued to polish his guns. Bruce didn’t think this was an answer, but he accepted it to keep Jason on good terms with him. Bruce came and sat by Jason on the floor. It weirded Jason out, but he didn’t mind it.

“Hope you’re doing well, Jaylad.” No one questioned that dying and the pit messed with Jason’s mind. He came back a totally different person than he was before he died. Bruce, Dick, and Alfred, having known Jason before, were still getting used to the new Jason. Damian and Tim on the other hand only knew this version of him. Jason used to be more affectionate and lighthearted. Dick had the theory that the previous Jason was still there. That the version was just shelled by a hard exterior. Bruce’s not saving Jason hurt the man. The shell was to make sure no one could hurt him again. Sometimes, like when Tim made the ill-thought through comment, the shell was chipped at, but Jason always worked to fix it and keep it up. 

“Yeah,” Jason said softly. He leaned against Bruce and continued to polish his guns. Bruce smiled and sat quietly as he watched his son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come!


	14. A Young Assassin's Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Howdy, y'all! Enjoy!

Damian was preparing himself. Preparing himself for punishment. He failed his last test and his Grandfather was going to make him pay dearly. He should have been better, but he couldn’t. So, here he was, waiting for the time for him to leave to receive his punishment. He didn’t want to be punished, but he knew he deserved it. He just hoped they wouldn’t break his hands this time. He could feel the nervousness at the pit of his stomach.

 

When it was time for him to leave, Damian carefully went into his window seal. He could feel someone behind him, but he hoped they wouldn’t comment. “What’re you doing?” ‘Dang it,’ Damian thought. Damian ignored the voice and tried to jump, but he was grabbed and pulled back in. It was no other than Timothy Drake. “Where’re you going?” Damian shook his head and tried to get out of Tim’s grip, but Tim held him tightly. Damian could’ve have nerve struck him or hit him somewhere sensitive, but he decided against it. “Stop squirming,” Tim complained. He sat Damian on the bed and sat on the boy. It was undignified, but it worked. Damian kicked Tim off him and locked Tim in between his legs. “Damian,” Tim choked out. He couldn’t breathe. The boy got off him and Tim coughed for a bit. Damian took this chance and escaped.

… 

When Damian returned, he was happy enough. At least they didn’t break his hands. They broke everything else, though. Tim must have told because the whole family was waiting for him and they weren’t happy. “Where’d you go?” Bruce asked with his Batman voice.

_ I had an engagement with Grandfather _ . 

“Where?”

_ I can’t disclose that. _

“Damian, you’re hurt. Obviously it wasn’t a good a meeting. What happened?” Damian shrugged. He didn’t feel like recointing, yet again, how he failed. “Answer me,” Bruce said.

_ It was just a meeting. _

“It obviously wasn’t just a meeting. It had to have been important. You choked Tim for it.”

_ I didn’t mean to. _ Damian’s lip quivered but he bit it.

“I need to know what you did.”

_ May I go, please? _ Damian looked at his father pleadingly. He was in a lot of pain from his injuries and walking. He just wanted to patch himself up and go to bed. Bruce sighed. Damian took that as a ‘yes’ and limped passed them to the med bay. He could finally stop walking correctly. It really hurt to, but his grandfather would have kept going if he hadn’t. He sewed his cuts up and popped his nose back in place. He still couldn’t breathe well. They held him by his throat until he almost blacked out. He could feel his collapsed lung. He grabbed a needle and inserted it to raise his lung back up. Everyone gasped at that. Damian then got up and slammed his shoulder into the wall. It relocated correctly. He removed the needle from his chest, but he was still wheezing. It hurt to breathe, but it wasn’t like he could just stop. Damian set his ankle then headed up the stairs to his room. At that point, Jason recovered from his shock enough to pick the boy up and carry him. Everyone else just followed. Jason laid Damian gingerly on the bed. Dick came behind him and covered Damian up. The boy could feel their stares, but he ignored them and close his eyes. He wheezed as he tried to go to sleep. 

“Damian,” Bruce finally said. The boy opened his eyes. “What happened?”  

_ I failed _ . He signed it simply. He reached over to grab his iPad. He called his mother. He remembered that she always wanted to see him after the punishments. She needed to know that he was okay. She answered quickly. She was speaking in Arabic.

_ “I see it went poorly. I hope you do better next time.” _ Damian nodded and gave her a small grin. She smiled at that.  _ “Who is with you? I hear people.” _ She was speaking in English now. 

_ Father, Jason, Dick, and Tim. _

_ “Hello, My beloved and Jason.”  _ Talia didn’t acknowledge Tim or Dick. 

“You knew, didn’t you,” Bruce said angrily.

_ “I did. Consequences are imperative to ensuring success. Damian will do better next time.”  _ Damian nodded.  _ “I must go. I will call you again soon, Ibn.” _ She hung up quickly. Damian put his iPad back down. 

“Damian, does Ra’s have anything planned in the near future?” Damian kept his face indifferent for a minute. He knows the plans, but he’d never betray his Grandfather. He comes up with a plan.

_ He _ … Damian signed one word and began to cough incessantly. It hurt, but there was a price to pay to keep from revealing things that would make Ra’s lose trust in him. Plus, he was pretty sure he inhaled some water, so he needed to get it out before he caught pneumonia. Jason sat down by him and patted his back. Damian stopped coughing after a bit, laid his head on Jason’s lap, and closed his eyes. Bruce figured he could ask the boy tomorrow.

“Good night,” Bruce said. He left with Dick and Tim trailing behind. Jason stayed.

“Man, the League sure teaches sacrifice,” Jason said. He could always tell when Damian was faking. “That must’ve hurt.” Damian smirked and nodded. Proud of what he’d done for the sake of loyalty. “Bruce isn’t going to let this go.” Damian nodded and reached his hand to Jason’s throat, and the man sang him to sleep.

… 

Damian came to breakfast after training as usual the next morning. The his neck was purple now. Damian could feel that his voice box was damaged, but he didn’t speak anyway, so he found it trivial. It would heal. It pained the rest of the family to see it, but they didn’t comment. They could tell Damian didn’t care. “Damian,” Bruce said from behind his paper. “I know a doctor. She helps Batman sometimes. I want to have her give you a well check.” Damian twisted his lips in thought.

_ Grandfather handles my medical affairs. _

“I know, but after last night…” Bruce trailed off. Damian shook his head. “It’s just to be vigilant. Just in case.” Damian pulled out his phone to call his grandfather. Ra’s answered immediately.

_ “Hafid, what is it?” _ Ra’s saw the scars and knew where they came from. He hoped his grandson would do better next time. Damian handed the phone to his father.  _ “Detective, what is needed?” _ Ra’s liked Bruce. He wanted Bruce to be the next Ra’s, but he declined. Ra’s is fine with skipping a generation.

“I wanted to have a doctor look over Damian.”

_ “He is fine. I am sure you know he had a test. He will complete his task properly next time.” _ Damian nodded and looked down at his feet.

“It’s just to cover all our bases.”

_ “No, Detective. I must be going now.” _ Ra’s hung up and Bruce handed Damian his phone back. Bruce pulled his phone out to call Leslie. 

“Bruce, you know what he said,” Dick supplicated.

“He won’t know,” Bruce said as he glanced at Damina.

“He’ll get in trouble.” Bruce finished texting Leslie.

“She’ll be here at 6.” Damian wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to be punished even more. He bit his lip in thought.

_ I’m fine _ , he signed. Damian looked at Jason, begging for him to do something.

“Yeah, Demon’s not going, Bruce.”

“He is,” Bruce said with finality.

“You’ll only hurt him more.” Damian was biting his lip so hard he drew blood.

“Dami,” Dick sighed when he saw. He handed the boy a napkin.  _ “You’re stressing him out,” _ Dick said in Romani to Bruce. Bruce looked at Damian. The boy fled the scene. Jason went after him. Dick gave Bruce a look.

 

Jason found Damian under his bed curled up. “Damian, come out.” The boy shook his head. His breathing was rapid. “It’s okay. I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble. Okay? Just come out.” Damian shook his head. Jason sighed and reached to get the boy. He pulled the trembling boy out. “Hey,” Jason got Damian to focus on his eyes. “You gotta breathe.” Damian took a quick short breath. “Good, do that, but slower.” Damian forced himself to slow his breathing down. Jason held the boy in his lap. Bruce came in the doorway and Damian’s breathing began to pick up again. Jason kicked the door shut with his foot. “You don’t have to choose. It’s okay.” Jason sat Damian on his bed and handed the boy his sketchbook and pencils. Jason left and came back quickly with Alfred the cat. “Will you draw me a picture of Alfred?” Drawing tended to calm Damian down. Damian was dubious as to why Jason wanted a picture, but agreed and began to draw. His skills were better than most professional artists. 

… 

Later that day, Bruce came and picked Damian up from where he was napping. Talia had been weaning him off naps when he came, but she liked that he got them every once in a while if his training was done. Damian yawned and rubbed his eyes. It made him seem his age. Damian was a bit weirded out because Bruce had never even came this close to him since he came. He knew why when Bruce took him to a room with an old lady in it. she had a black medical bag and was smiling warmly. “Hi, Damian,” she said. Damian held on tighter to his father as Leslie came closer. Leslie and Bruce eventually pried Damian off Bruce and sat him on a chair. Leslie tried to touch Damian and he flinched. She stopped and looked at Bruce. “Does he have PTSD or something similar?” 

“Most likely, but it’s not diagnosed. He grew up with the League of Shadows.” She nodded in understanding.

“Will you open your mouth for me?” She showed Damian how. Damian looked at his Father. Bruce nodded and Damian did what she asked. She used a tongue depressor then pulled out a light to check his ears and nose. Damian scooted away.

“She’s just checking your ears and nose,” Bruce said. Damian was thinking back to when Ra’s implanted a device through his ear. It hurt so badly, but his mother said it was for the best. He was still, so Leslie checked his ears. The first one was fine, but the second one had something in it.

“Is he deaf or does he have hearing problems?” Bruce shook his head and looked to see what she saw. Leslie took some forceps and pulled on the device softly. Damian jerked his head away and held his ear. He shook his head and began signing rapidly to his Father. Leslie knew he was mute. It was too fast for Bruce to even try to understand.

“Damian, calm down. I can’t understand.” Damian bit his lip and broke the scab on his lip from earlier. Leslie looked at him with sad eyes.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.” Damian looked at his father.

“I’ll take care of Ra’s. You won’t be in trouble.” Damian nodded. Leslie cleaned his lip off. Leslie checked his neck and stitches. 

“Did Alfred do these? They’re very clean.” She was impressed. Damian shook his head.

“He- um- he did them himself,” Bruce said. Leslie’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know it was possible for a kid to do that. What saddened her is that he had to have had a lot of practice to be so good at it. She finished quickly after that.

“You did a good job,” Leslie said to Damian in an over exuberant voice. Damian frowned at it. He was no child who needed an euphoric voice whenever he was spoken to. Damian nodded and got up. He bowed at his father and ran away to find Jason.

… 

Ra’s wasn’t happy. Damian felt his father had lied because Bruce hadn’t taken care of it. If it weren’t for Ubu taking mercy on him, it would have been a lot worse. Ubu broke his hands, but he gave him some Lazarus Water right after. He told the boy to be safe on his way back home and left. Damian fixed his hands and went back home. 

… 

Bruce was waiting in Damian’s room when the boy got home. Damian could tell he looked mad, so he did what any other eight year old who could act would do, he pretended to pass out. Bruce caught him before he hit the ground. “Damian,” Bruce said worriedly. He laid Damian on the bed and softly tapped the boy’s cheek. Damian’s eyes fluttered open, then he closed them again, feigning fatigue. “Open your eyes.” Damian squinted. Bruce shined a light in his eyes then sat him up. “Where were you?” Damian’s head lolled to the side and his eyes began to close. Bruce figured the boy was tired. He changed Damian into pajamas and tucked the boy in. 

_ Grandfather…  _ Damian was signing, but Bruce could only catch one word of the lethargic, sloppy sign language. 

“Okay,” Bruce said, getting the boy to stop. “Go to sleep.” He closed the boy’s eyelids. He stayed until Damian went to sleep, then left. Bruce figured where the boy had been wasn’t important, so he let it go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More soon!


	15. A Young Assassin and Superman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian and Superman have an altercation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all are enjoying the story!

Clark decided to try and make nice with Damian. He didn’t like the idea of his best friend’s kid not liking him. Plus, it would help the league. So, he got Bruce to throw a BBQ!

 

Clark found Damian in a corner sitting down. He went over to the boy and sat down. “Hi, Damian,” he said kindly, Damian looked at him and nodded. He didn’t smile though. “Are you enjoying the party?” Damian shrugged. “What do you usually like to do?” Damian pulled out a notebook and pen.

_ I draw and train and read. _ Clark nodded. 

“What’s your favorite book?”

_ Gulliver’s Travels _ Clark smiled.

“I read that book when I was about your age.” Damian nodded. “Wanna go flying,” Clark said, trying to wow the boy. Damian shook his head. Jason came over and handed Damian a small bowl with ice cream. 

_ Thank you _ , Damian signed. 

“Hey, Clark,” Jason said and waved.

“Hi, Jason.”

“What’re you and Damian talking about?” Damian started singing to Jason. Jason laughed. “You’re a first, Demon.”

“For what,” Clark asked.

“The first to not think you’re better than Batman.” Clark frowned.

“You don’t like me?” Damian shrugged. Clark grabbed him and flew him up into the sky. He was hoping to make a fun surprise, but he ended up with a kid having a panic attack. Whoops. He flew back down to where they were. Jason was still there. Damian was hyperventilating. 

“What’d you do,” Jason asked. He kept his voice soft because of Damian. He held the boy carefully and rubbed circles on his back. “You gotta breathe, Damian,” Jason told him softly. Damian tried, but coughed. Jason patted him on the back and went into a random room where no one would come. Clark followed. Eventually, Jason got Damian breathing again.

“I’m sorry. I-I was trying to surprise him. I thought he’d like it.” Damian was crying softly into Jason’s shoulder. Jason shushed the boy. “I’m sorry, Damian,” Clark said softly. Jason bounced the boy up and down slightly. Damian was still crying. 

“It’s okay, buddy. He’s sorry.” Damian nodded. Clark stayed for a minute. 

“I-I’ll go,” Clark whispered and he left. When he walked back out, Diana found him.

“What’s wrong, Clark?” 

“I scared Damian, Bruce’s new kid. I was just trying to get him to like me.” Diana nodded.

“He likes me,” she teased. Clark rolled his eyes.

“You’re a princess. Every little boy, even the older boys, like you.” She smiled.

“Of course.” 

 

Jason took Damian into a playroom Bruce had set up for him. Damian sometimes played with the toys if he was prompted. 

“Go play, Demon,” Jason said. He sat Damian on the floor, and the boy went to play with a train he was particularly fond of. Jason pulled his phone out and sat down a few feet away from Damian. Tim came in a few minutes later.

“Why’re you guys in here?” He sat down by Jason. 

“Clark was being a dumb--” Jason looked at Damian, “--butt and messing with the Demon.” Jason mouthed ‘I’ll tell you later’ to Tim. Damian came and sat in Jason’s lap. He waved at Tim. Tim smiled and waved back.

_ Can I have another frozen milk fat? Kent spilled mine. _ Damian frowned.

“Sure,” Jason said as he got up. He put Damian in Tim’s lap and left.

“Was the party fun?” Damian shrugged. “What’d you do?” Damian shrugged again. Tim never knew how to get Damian to talk. Jason could have him conversing for hours, but Tim never knew what to say. Damian got back up and went back to the train. Tim followed him and sat down by him. Damian handed Tim the toy conductor. Tim smiled and put it in the train. They played a bit more until Jason came back with Damian’s ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More soon!


	16. A Young Assassin’s Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian has a birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ask questions if you have them!

Damian’s birthday is today. Usually, he spars with his mother, but he doesn’t know if she is coming or not. Jason gives him a Red Hood doll and Dick gives him a small car. Tim gives him a book. Damian likes them, but he’s not sure why he got them. He didn’t have a test. He didn’t think so anyway.

 

Damian liked the Red Hood doll best. It looked like Jason. He would take it with him wherever he went. His mother sent a test one night. Ninjas came flying into his room. Damian didn’t kill all but one. The one he killed cut the Red Hood doll. He sewed it back together. He drags the corpses and loads them into body bags. Even though the others aren’t dead, he figures there’s no harm. He leaves them outside his room for his mother. Then he gets cleaner and gets the blood out of his carpet. After that, he takes the bloodied sheets off his bed and his clothes except his underwear off and puts them in the washer. He cleans the blood out of his doll as he waits. After he transfers the sheets and clothing to the dryer, he gets a bath and puts on new pajamas. He then went into his room and fell asleep on the sheetless bed. 

 

Damian was awoken a few hours later by Jason. “What happened?”

_ Test. I passed. _ Damian signed. Jason sat the boy in a chair and put the clean sheets on the bed. 

“You cleaned it all up?” Damian nodded. Jason saw the doll in the crook of Damian’s elbow, but he didn’t comment. “Good job.” Damian laid down in the bed when it was done. Bruce came by.

“What’s going on?”  

“Demon wet the bed,” Jason said seriously. He wasn’t about to give Bruce more ammo with the boy. “We cleaned the sheets.” Bruce nodded and left. 

_ I wet the bed?  _

“It was that or you murdered 18 assassins.”

_ I only killed one. Mother will take care of the others. _

“Why’d you only kill one?”

_ He was disrespectful.  _ Jason laughed. 

“What’s he do?” Damian showed him he sewn up Red Hood doll. Jason smiled. “Awww, Demon. You really do love me!” Damian blushed. Jason gave him hug. “Good night.” He turned the light off and walked out.

… 

Clark came during the weekend to give Damian a birthday present. He got the boy a Superman cape. “Hi, Alfred,” Clark said as he came in. 

“Mister Kent.” 

“Where’s Damian?”

“I do believe you don’t have the best experiences with him.” Clark blushed. 

“I have a birthday present for him.”

“He’s in the recreation room.” Clark thanked Alfred and went into the room. He didn’t see anyone. He wondered where the boy went.  

“Damian,” he called out. He used his super hearing, but he didn’t hear a thing. He couldn’t even hear a heartbeat. He looked in all the nooks and crannies, but he couldn’t find Damian. Then, he used his x-ray vision. The boy still wasn’t found. He was starting to get worried that the boy was kidnapped or something. “Damian, I’m just here with your birthday present.” Nothing happened. Jason came in then. 

“Why’re you here?”

“I was bringing Damian a present for his birthday.” Jason sighed, annoyed with Clark. 

“Demon,” Jason yelled. Damian came out a second later and raised his arms for Jason to pick him up. Jason obliged.

“How’d I not see you?” They shrugged. “I got you a birthday present,” Clark said excitedly. He handed the boy a gift bag. Damian nodded a thank you and handed it to Jason. Jason opened the bag and pulled out the cape. 

“He got you a cape, Demon.” Damian signed something. “Demon says thank you.” Clark beamed.

“Do you wanna try it on?” Damian nodded unenthusiastically. Jason sat Damian down and put the cape on. Damian seemed to like it well enough. Damian walked up to Clark and put his hand out. They shook hands and Damian left. 

“He's weird that way. He said he the cape is fashionable even though it should never be worn when trying to be stealthy, which is always for him, so he’ll probably just keep it on display.” Clark smiled and left. Maybe the boy likes him now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come!


	17. A Young Assassin Meets the Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian goes to Mt. Justice with Tim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy, y'all!

Tim had to take Damian with him when he went to Mt. Justice because everyone else was busy or gone. Damian was well behaved, so Tim didn’t mind. He wore a domino instead of his Mini Hood costume from last time. When Tim’s name was announced, the Team rushed to meet him there. “Hey, guys,” Tim said. 

“Hey, Rob,” Impulse said excitedly. “You brought the kid! He’s soooo cute!” Impulse tried to pick Damian up, but the boy dodged. 

“I’m M’gann,” the Martian said sweetly. She was wondering what traumas the boy has gone through to have the images she saw in his head. He nodded and scooted closer to Tim. They wondered why he seemed scared of them. He could obviously beat them all I combat. Damian formally met the rest of the team. 

 

Damian found the team to be quite immature. They were loud and had bad manners. He wondered why Tim liked them so much. Superboy, Kon, didn’t like Damian. Damian didn’t care. 

 

“Cool doll, kid,” Impulse said to Damian about the Red Hood doll. Damian nodded. “Wanna see something cool?” Damian shrugged. Impulse sped away and came back with an older man who looked just like him. “This is my cousin, Wally.”

“Dude! I was in the middle of a test,” Wally yelled.

“Don’t you want to meet your best friend’s little brother?” Wally looked down at Damian. He smiled and waved. Damian knew about Wally. He’d even heard Dick on the phone with him before, but he’d never met him. Damian shook Wally’s hand. 

“I’m Wally, Dick’s friend,” he said kindly. 

“Do you talk,” Bart asked Damian. Everyone was cared to ask Damian or Tim he question. Damian shook his head. “That’s crash.” Bart ran away then. It was just Wally and Damian now. 

“So,” Wally said, scratching he back of his head. Damian pulled out a notebook. “Dick said you’re in the League of Shadows.” Damian nodded. “I think the leader is in the light. We’ve been trying to infiltrate them for years.” 

_ He’s my grandfather. _ Damian wrote in his notebook.

“Oh,” Wally said. “Really? You’ve got no chance in life.” Damian looked perplexed. “No offense, I just mean— well, you’re dad’s Batman and you’re grandad’s Ra’s al Ghul. I got out of the hero business. Are you going to be Robin or anything?” Damian shook his head.

_ Tim is Robin. _

“Dick and Jason used to be Robin. Daddybats may make you Robin one day. How old are you?” Damian shrugged.

_ It’s complicated.  _ Wally nodded. Nightwing walked in then.

“Walls, I’m hurt,” Dick joked. “Hey, Dami.” Damian waved. “Why’re you here?”

“Bart dragged me here. I was in the middle of test, so I guess my grade’s going down.” Dick chuckled. Wally noticed the bruises on Dick’s face and bandages. “Where were you?”

“Nowhere.”

“Doesn’t look like nowhere.” Damian looked Dick over.

_ Why’d Mother come after you? _ Dick froze.

“She— It wasn’t her.”

“His mom,” Wally questioned.

_ I can tell it was her. She told me your left knee had less dexterity than your right and that hitting that would make it easier to take you down. _

“Okay, it was your mom. No biggie.”

“His mom tried to kill you and it’s ‘no biggie?’” 

“It was probably a misunderstanding.” Damian pulled his phone and called his mom.

“My love,” she said lovingly.

_ Why’d you attack Grayson, _ he signed.

“Your father and I had a disagreement.”

_ Over what? _

“Nothing that concerns you.”

_ Why did it concern him?  _

“It didn’t. Your father uses them as soldiers.”

_ Was it at least resolved? _

“It will be.” He nodded and hung up. Wally stood dumbfounded. 

“Dude! She knows everything about you!” Dick shrugged.

“She hates me.”

“Why?”

“Wally, think this through. Batman is her… boyfriend. They have a kid together. They didn’t even make him until I was long gone.” 

“You cockblocked him,” Wally chuckled. Dick covered Damian’s ears.

“Not in front of the children, Walls,” Dick chastised. 

“Kid, you mom is crazy.” Damian drew his sword. Dick stood in between them. 

“Let’s be nice, guys. Wally, Red Robin was nearly dead last time his mom was insulted, so be smarter than you are and shut up.” Damian sheathed his sword and glared at Wally. 

“Sorry, little dude.” Damian opened a compartment in his Red Hood doll’s leather jacket and pulled out a little ball shaped candy and put it in his mouth. “Aren’t those choking hazards?” Dick shrugged.

“Dami’s more of one.” Damian nodded in agreement. 

“Roy’s kid may like him.” Dick smiled.

“Wanna meet our friend Roy’s kid, Dami?” Damian shrugged. He was staring at Wally intently. Wally smiled awkwardly. 

_ He dates the traitor _ , Damian signed to Dick.

“Traitor, Dami? Who?”

_ The traitor’s daughter.  _

“Artemis? Her dad was in the League?” Damian nodded.

_ She’s not a very good fighter.  _

“She’s pretty good, Dami.” 

_ He trained her poorly. Cheshire is a threat, though _ .

“Roy’s kid is Cheshire’s.” Damian rolled his eyes.

“He knows Jade?” 

“Apparently their dad is a traitor of the league.” Damian walked to the  zeta tubes and put in a location. “Dami, where are you going?” Damian programmed it to hide he location and he left. 

“Is he going after Jade?”

“I don’t know.” Dick ran to the computer and tarted hacking it to find out where the by went. Damian could do a lot of damage with his skill set.

… 

Damian did go after Jade, but not to hurt her. He knocked on the door and a Red headed man answered. “You’re not Chinese,” he complained. Damian held his notebook up. 

_ May I see Cheshire? _ Roy’s eyes widened.

“You— Who are you? Wait, how old are you? You look younger than my kid.” Damian rolled his eyes. Roy let him in. “Jade, some kid is here for you.” Damian saw the little girl. She walked up to him. 

“Hi,” she said sweetly. Damian nodded. “Do you talk?” He shook his head. Jade out her hand on her weapon when she saw Damian shake his head at the question. 

“What’s he want with me,” She asked. She was referring to Ra’s. Damian wrote on his notebook.

_ Nothing with you. Your father on the other hand, a lot.  _

“I don’t know where he is,” she said. 

_ You do.  _

“Well I’m not gonna tell you,” she responded and pulled out her weapon.

_ I’ll win. Let’s skip that part. _ She put it back. They both knew it was true. She reluctantly wrote a location on spice of aller and handed it to him. 

“You’re not gonna threaten my family or anything,” she asked. He shrugged.

_I’m not into that._ _Unless you give me cause. Such as a fake location._ She took the paper out and wrote the real location. He smirked. 

“Stop smirking, brat,” she said. Damian’s phone dinged and he read the message. He unsheathed one of his knives and made a cut on his wrist. 

“Dude,” Roy yelled. “You better not blame that on us,” Damian put the cut to his mouth and shrugged. “Are you into that mess Zsasz does?” Damian shook his head. “Then why’d you cut yourself?” He didn’t answer. Then he pulled his phone out and called Dick. 

_ “Dami? Where are you?” _

“Dick,” Roy asked. “He’s yours?”

“ _ No.”  _ Dick didn’t explain the Batman is his dad part.  _ “Is everyone… unharmed?”  _ Damian nodded. 

“Dick, I don’t have time to babysit your kids. Come get him.”

_ “Did you meet Roy’s kid? She’s nice isn’t she?” _ The girl blushed at Dick’s mention of her. 

“Hi, Dick,” she said happily. He greeted her. 

_ “Hood’s coming. He’ll be there in a minute.” _ Dick hung up. 

“You’re weird,” Roy told Damian. Damian gave him an incredulous look. Jason was there, fully decked out as Red Hood, a few minutes later. He looked at Damian as he climbed through the window.

“You didn’t have to do that. She wouldn’t have known.” Jason was referring to Damian’s cut.

“Hi to you too, Hood.” Jason chuckled. 

“We’re above formalities, Roy.” Jason gave him a fist bump then took his helmet off and handed it to Damian. The boy put his doll in it. 

“He yours?” Jason chuckled as he picked Damian up.

“No.”

“What is he?”

“My little brother,” Jason said incredulously.

“I thought you already had one of those,” Roy joked.

“Nope. He’s my only sibling.” Roy looked confused.

“What about Dick and Tim?”

“He’s my only sibling,” Jason said in a serious tone.

“What are Dick and Tim?”

“Acquaintances. Well, Tim’s my replacement and Dick is an acquaintance.” 

“So you have a dad and a brother.”

“I have a brother.”

“Jay, you mean to tell me you only consider the kid your family? Technically you’re legally tied to the others.”

“I’m legally dead, so I can choose. I choose Demon.” Jade laughed.

“You can’t be serious. Why do you call him Demon?”

“He’ll be the Demon one day. I’m just ahead of the curb. We gotta go. I have drug bust.” 

“Jay, you have the kid,” Roy said. 

“So? He’ll do finely. I brought him his Mini Hood costume and everything.”

“He’s younger than Dick was.”

“He’s better trained too. His mom will just chalk it up to field training.”

“And his dad?”

“Will just ask if he killed anybody.”

“Just leave him here and come back,” Roy said. Jason feigned shock.

“Is Roy Harper offering to babysit? You’ve gone soft Harper,” Jason chuckled. “We’re good though.” Jason moved to leave, but Jade stood in his way. 

“Leave the kid and come back.” 

“He threatened your family and you wanna keep him? And B calls me the insane. Fine, I’ll leave the demon.” Jason or Damian back down. Damian gave him the helmet back. “See ya later, Demon.” Jason jumped out the window. 

“Nice doll,” Roy teased. Jade hit him on the arm. “What?”

“He’s a kid. Leave him alone,” she whispered.

“He just threatened our lives,” Roy complained quietly.

“Still a kid. Plus, he really didn’t. He could’ve come in the window and attacked, but he politely knocked on the door. He even wiped his feet on the doormat,” she said softly. Roy couldn’t argue with that. Damian sat on the floor and played with his Red Hood doll. He seemed oblivious to their conversation. “See,” she whispered. He rolled his eyes.

“Kid, you hungry? We have leftovers.” Damian shook his head. “It’s gonna be late when Jay comes back.” Damian still shook his head. 

_ I already ate today. _ Damian wrote on the notebook. They realized he was pretty young to already be writing that well.

“You’re supposed to eat more than once.”

“They don’t in League,” Jade said. “Dad tried it with us, but it didn’t take. It doesn’t with a lot of kids. He must’ve started that way.” 

“Oh. You can go play with Lian, kid.” Damian shook his head. Roy and Jade wondered if he’d ever played with other kids before. He seemed content with sitting on the floor and his doll. “You wanna go sit somewhere else?” Damian shook his head again. If babysitting little kids was this easy, Roy wanted to start a daycare. 

 

Lian came and sat by Damian. They weren’t sure how old he was, but they knew that she was older than him. It looked like a few years at least. “Hi,” she said sweetly. He looked up and waved, but went straight back to his doll after. “Do you like Red Hood?” He nodded. “I like Red Arrow.” He looked up at Roy who was watching TV. “How’d you know he’s my dad?” 

_ Files, _ Damian wrote on his notepad. 

“What do you think of Red Arrow?” Damian shrugged.

_ Grayson, Todd, and Drake like him and trust him. _

“Do you?” Damian shrugged again. “Where’s your mom?” 

_ Leviathan Headquarters. _

“What’s Leviathan?”

_ Her organization.  _

“What did you need from my mom?”

_ The location of your maternal grandfather. _

“Why?”

_ My grandfather has business with him. _

“Do you miss your mom?” Damian ignored the question. Lian found it weird that Damian had a doll. She thought they were for girls, and most kids played with iPads and watched TV. “Do you watch TV,” she asked. He shook his head. They sat there for a bit longer before Damian laid down on the floor and went to sleep. Jade came over to her parents. 

“He fell asleep. How old is he? It’s not even that late yet.” Roy looked at the clock. 

“It’s about patrol time,” he said as he got up.

“I don’t know how old he is, but he’s obviously pretty young. You’re more used to staying up late,” Jade responded. Liam and Roy left for patrol. Jade went over to the boy. She then realized she didn’t know his English name. “Hafid,” she whispered. He awoke and sat up. “You can sleep in Lian’s bed until your brother comes.” He shook his head and laid back down. That kid was weird. 

… 

Jason came back about an hour after Roy and Lian. “What took you so long,” Roy asked.

“Red Hood had to leave a gift,” Jason said.

“How many,” Roy asked.

“They had kids, Roy.” Roy’s jaw dropped.

“All of them? There were like hundreds of them.”

“I know.” Damian awoke at Jason’s arrival. Jason picked him up. “Daddybats beckons,” he joked. 

“No thanks,” Roy chuckled.

“You deprived the world of Red Hood and Mini Hood today. You should be apologizing. Plus, it was your pleasure.” Roy rolled his eyes. 

“Bye,” Lian told Damian. He waved and they left.

… 

Bruce was mad when they got home. “You can’t just leave whenever you want, Damian.” Damian took the scolding maturely. He didn’t flinch or cry or try to defend himself. He stood like the soldier he was and let Bruce finish. When Bruce was finally done, he went to his room. He didn’t care what his father thought of his actions. He got valuable information for his grandfather. Ra’s might even call him for a training session. He loved training with his grandfather. 

 

Jason knocked on the door then came in. “So, now that Daddybats is done.” Jason sat down on the end of Damian’s bed. 

_ You killed them all? _

“Yeah.”

_ Admirable.  _ Jason chuckled. 

“Yeah. I did the head thing again too. Felt right.” Damian’s jaw dropped.

_ All of them? _

“Just the main guys. So like twenty.” Damian smirked.

_ Picture or it didn’t happen.  _ Jason chuckled. He loved that he taught Damian slang. He pulled out his phone and showed Damian.

_ Why didn’t you take me.  _ Damian’s lips were in a pout.

“Jade and Roy decided to be responsible adults. Losers,” Jason singsonged. Damian grabbed the phone and flipped through the pictures some more. Dick came in a minute later.

“Jay, don’t show Dami that stuff.”

“He asked. Plus, he’s seen worse.” 

“You shouldn’t even have those pictures. Stop making a case for B to put you in Arkham.”

_ I’d come with you. We could tell Mother it’s training. _

“He might anyway. Demon’ll come with me. We’ll be bunk mates.” Dick rolled his eyes and took the phone. “Don’t delete those. I like them!” 

“Too late.” 

_ I sent them to myself and backed them up. You have to think ahead. _

“Man, you’re smart. Demon.” Damian nodded proudly. Dick scoffed.

“I’m trying to help you, Jay,” he said earnestly. 

“Let him put me in there.”

_ I’ll break him out. _

“See? Demon would have me out before I was even processed.”

“I’ll leave you all to it,” Dick said as he left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come soon! Ask questions if you have them!


	18. A Young Assassin’s Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Foreshadowing comes to the forefront of our Young Assassin's story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's longer than some of the others have been.

Bruce did put Jason in Arkham. Damian broke him out before he was processed. Now? Now they were running accords the rooftops away from Batman. They hid in an apartment Damian rented the night before. “Thanks, Demon.”

_ Father was wrong.  _ Damian sat in Jason’s lap.  _ He won’t find you. Come visit me? _

“Definitely.” Jason gave him a hug. 

_ I have to get back to my room and… grieve before Father comes back.  _

“Bye,” Jason said. Damian waved and left.

… 

When Bruce got back, he checked in Damian to see if the boy was there. He found him crying in the corner of his room, curled up in a ball with his Red Hood doll beside him. Dick was with him. Damian was mad about his putting Jason in Arkham. Tim wasn’t mad, but he wasn’t happy about it either. Dick got up from where he was with Damian and ushered Bruce out the door. “Tim, Babs, and I understand why you did what you did. We don’t like it, but we understand. Damian doesn’t. He doesn’t have our morals or ethics. He doesn’t even think Jason did anything wrong. You’re gonna have to give him a minute.”

“He’s been there all day.”

“He’ll move eventually.” 

“Jason escaped.”

“He did?” Dick was surprised.

“I don’t know how, but he did.”

“Are you gonna tell Damian?”

“I don’t know if I should. He’s probably not coming back for a while if at all. Don’t tell him, though. We don’t want to hurt him more if Jason doesn’t come back for him.” Dick nodded sadly then Bruce left. Dick went back in and sat back by Damian. “It’s okay, Dami.” Damian shook his head and kept crying. 

 

He wouldn’t go to sleep either. Dick stayed with the boy all night. He sat in Dick’s lap awake while the young man went to sleep for a few hours. 

… 

The next day, Damian still wouldn't eat anything. That was pretty bad considering he only got one meal a day as it is. He wouldn’t let anything, but water pass his lips. Sure, it hurt not to eat, but Damian was trained for that kind of stuff. He would eat when his father told him of Jason’s escape from Arkham. 

 

“C’mon, Dami,” Dick said. He was trying to get the boy to eat. Damian shook his head. Dick had carried him to the kitchen table since he refused to walk. Alfred was giving him a sad gaze as he sat in a chair with his knees to his chest and his Red Hood doll in his right hand. Damian was right handed, so he used that hand to hold his doll. He had become much more ambidextrous since he got the doll. He rarely put it down.

 

The others were starting to get worried. They boy hadn’t eaten since breakfast two days ago. It had to hurt, the hunger. It actually didn’t hurt as much as they thought. Damian had been starved multiple times in his short life. He’d gone much longer than a couple days. 

… 

By the end of the day, Damian still had dark circles under his eyes and an empty belly. “Can I borrow your doll,” Dick asked Damian. Damian looked at Dick hesitantly. “I’ll bring it back in a few minutes.” Damian reluctantly handed Dick the doll.

 

Dick went outside the room into his Tim’s. They had a knife, a sewing kit, and a solution of Jason’s soap laced with a weak airborne sedative. Tim had made a solution that they were going to pour into a capsule and put into the Red Hood doll. They hoped that if Damian smelled it he might sleep. Hugging the doll would feel like hugging Jason. They got to work making it and sewed the doll back up. They made sure to open the previous ‘wound’ so that Damian wouldn’t be upset.

 

Dick brought the doll back quickly and handed it to Damian. The boy sat with it on his bed for a minute. His eyes began to droop, and he was sleep soon after that. Dick covered the boy up and left. He and Tim high-fived when they were out of the boy’s vigilant earshot. 

 

Damian slept peacefully. He knew they did something to the doll, but he didn’t mind. He eventually went to sleep, praying that Jason would come visit him soon. Damian’s prayers were answered. That night, Jason came carefully into Damian’s window. The boy woke up immediately, but stayed quiet. Jason sat with him on the bed.  _ You look tired, _ Jason signed.

_ Had to sell it.  _

_ I’m convinced. I’m gonna go somewhere else, I don’t know where yet, until this all cools down. I’ll tell you where I went next time I come.  _

_ When will that be? _

_ Soon. No more than a month. _ Damian nodded. He wished it was sooner, but even he knew that was the shortest possible time.  _ Roy’ll let you know. _ Jason kissed Damian on the forehead. 

_ Your absence will be noticed. _ Jason smiled. 

_ Yours too. _ He gave Damian a hug before leaving the way he came. Damian slept soundly the rest of the night.

… 

The next day, Damian didn’t eat anything at breakfast, but he drank half a cup of juice. He didn't want to eat. Not while Jason was an outcast.

 

At lunch, Dick came to him with a pack of crackers. Damian just played with his Red Hood doll as Dick sat there. After a minute, Dick cleared his throat. “You want one?” Damian looked at the crackers, but didn’t respond. Dick opened the pack and put a cracker into his mouth. He ate it quickly. He then grabbed a cracker and put it to Damian’s closed lips. Damian opened his mouth and let Dick slip the cracker in. Dick smiled as the boy chewed and swallowed the cracker while still playing with the doll.

 

The next cracker Damian didn’t open his mouth for, so Dick ate it. Damian ate the fourth one though. On the fifth, Dick held did the same routine as before. Damian obliged, and ate the cracker. Dick kept that up until all the crackers were gone. Dick handed a prepped juice box to Damian. Damian wouldn’t grab it. “Drink it,” Dick said softly. He put the straw to the boy’s lips as he had done the cracker. Damian sipped half of it. The boy went back to his doll after that. Dick was content, so he left. Dinner was the same thing, but with white rice balls. Dick was working up to big things.

 

At breakfast the next day, Damian was back to water. Dick decided to leave it and hope that he’d be open to lunch. That was a bust too. Now they were at dinner. “C’mon,” Dick said quietly as he offered Damian a chicken nugget. Damian didn’t feel like eating. He wanted to train, but he was banned until he ate. Tears pricked Damian’s eyes. “It’s okay,” Dick consoled the boy. He gave him a hug. Dick looked at the time on his phone. Damian gave the man a questioning look. “Oh, I’m getting together with the Team.” Damian knew Roy used to be a part of it. “We’re going on a reunion mission with the current Team. Nothing big.” Damian wondered if Roy had any information on Jason. Dick saw the way the boy’s eyes lit up. “Do you wanna come? Roy’s bringing Lian.” Damian nodded. Dick smirked and held out the plate. It had two chicken nuggets on it. “You have to eat these first.” Damian ate them quickly. Dick smiled. “Good. Get dressed.” 

… 

Nightwing and Flamebird, Dick chose it, came to the mountain an hour early. Red Robin was already there. “Why do you guys keep giving him names that connect to your aliases.”

“You’re just jealous,” Dick teased.

“Fine, I am. When’s my turn?” Damian shrugged. He’d be open to whatever Tim chose as long as it didn’t have Robin in the name.

“Hey, Rob,” Wally said to Dick.

“KF, I’m not Rob anymore. I’m the Nautical Nightwing and my sidekick--” Damian kicked Dick in the leg. “Ouch! I meant partner, if the Flabbergastingly Fantastic Flamebird!” Damian’s mouth twisted in confusion at the alliteration. 

“I won’t be KF when I finish college. Uncle B wants me to be Flash.”

“Are you gonna take it?”

“Maybe. Are you gonna become Batman?” Dick frowned.

“We talked about this, Walls. I know how awesome it would be, but it’s not gonna happen.” Roy and Lian came then. 

“Hi,” she said to Damian excitedly. He waved. “Are you coming? I’ve never seen you fight before. You must be pretty good.” She was talking to him like the age he was. Tim snorted. 

“He’d kick the snot out of you.” She laughed. She thought Tim was joking. 

“Wanna spar with me,” she asked Damian kindly.

“Let’s not do that,” Roy suggested. He didn’t want Damian to hurt his daughter’s pride or ribs.

“I can handle it,” she complained.

“No you can’t,” Garth laughed. “He beat Kon. What chance do mere mortals have?” She crossed her arms.

“Let’s go,” she ordered Damian to the training platform. Damian, being used to obeying anyone older than him, followed. She counted down and they sparred. It lasted 1.3 seconds. He incapacitated her that fast. She laid on the floor stunned for a bit. Damian gave Dick a thumbs up for ‘she’s not dead’ and walked back.

“Lian, you okay,” Roy asked worriedly. She got back up.

“He’s like four years younger than me,” she squealed angirly. “I’m going home.” She went to the tubes and zeta’ed home. Roy went up to Damian. 

“Good job, squirt. I have a request,” he said simply. Damian nodded for him to continue. “Can you not rat out Jade’s dad. She’s kinda mad about that.” Damian wanted to give his grandfather the location. He’d be proud of him. He loved whenever his grandfather was. Damian frowned, but nodded. He’d do it since Roy was helping Jason. Roy smiled. “Thanks. Jay’s in Turkey by the way,” Roy slipped away without anyone noticing the conversation. 

 

Damian was content, so he decided he didn’t want to go on the mission. He raised his arms for Tim to pick him up. The teenager did, and Damian closed his eyes with his doll hugged to his chest. “Wanna go home,” Tim asked. Damian kept his eyes closed. Tim stood him up by the tubes and sent him home.

“That’s an assassin,” Wally asked.

“He’s still a kid,” Dick chuckled.

“He has some normal qualities.”

“Not really,” Tim said. They left to go on their mission.

… 

Damian went to sleep in the Zeta tube entrance when he got to the cave. He was found by his father. Bruce picked him up carefully and took him to his room. He was changing Damian’s clothes when he saw a scab on the boy’s wrist next to varied levels of faded scars. He didn’t think Damian cut himself. 

 

He woke Damian up. “What’re the scars from,” he asked the boy softly. He hoped Damian would answer, being that he was mad about Jason. Damian looked confused. Bruce lifted the wrist. Damian must have been too tired to lie or ignore the question. 

_ Penance for disobedience. _ Bruce figured that was something Talia instituted with the boy. He wondered if the boy did that after he was scolded.

“Don’t do that anymore, okay?” Damian shook his head.

_ Mother won’t be pleased. _

“It’s not good to cut yourself.”

_ Jason said it’s not needed. _ Bruce grimaced at the name, but wiped it off his face for the boy’s sake.

“Jason’s right. We’re not going to do that anymore,” Bruce said firmly. Damian signed the statement with a questioning look on his face.

_ We’re not going to do that anymore? _ Bruce nodded. Damian gave a thumbs up, something Jason taught him, and went back to sleep. Bruce smiled at the gesture and finished tucking the boy in. He hoped what he did wouldn’t mess Damian up too much in the long run, but it may have.

… 

Damian wouldn’t eat at all for the next two days. They weren’t sure of the reason for this regression, but they knew they needed to fix it. Thanks to the doll, Damian slept at least. Bruce tried to give the boy an IV, but that ended with a 12 hour search for Damian. They really wished for Jason’s gift of being able to call him and for the boy to pop up instantaneously. Alfred put Pedialyte in the boy’s water, but that was about all they could do. 

 

While sitting at the dining room table obstinately, Damian received a text from an unknown number.

_ Unknown: Hey _

_ Damian: J? _

_ Unknown: Yeah. Been watching you a bit.  _ Damian blushed at that.

_ Unknown: I’ll be back in the next week. Fatten up for me, will you? _

_ Damian: Not hungry _

_ Unknown: Just a bit more. I don’t want to have to nurse you back to health.  _

_ Damian: You will do nothing of the sort. _

_ Unknown: Then eat _

_ Damian: I’ll try. _

_ Unknown: That’s all I ask. Now throw your phone away. It’s about to explode.  _ Damian ran to the window and threw the phone out seconds before it exploded.

“Was that your mom,” Tim asked. Damian shrugged. They took that as a yes. 

 

Damian came back to the table and began to eat. No one questioned it for fear he would stop, but they all smiled at the sight. Damian was back to his normal diet the next day. Jason visited shortly after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big change is to come!


	19. A Young Assassin's Return (Pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shift in the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done before midnight yes!

Talia took Damian back. She had been trying to, but Bruce was stopping her. Finally, she besieged Gotham. Her only conditions were that Damian be returned. Bruce had to choose between his son and his city. He chose his city.

 

The boys were furious. Jason left Gotham. He was tired of Bruce putting everything before his family. Dick hadn’t come home in months. He stuck to Bludhaven. Tim, being a minor, was still stuck with Bruce. Both Red Robin and Tim made themselves scarce whenever Bruce came around.

 

Eventually, Damian came back. He came back bloodied, bruised, and recluse. He kept disappearing for days at a time. Bruce ended up putting an ankle bracelet on him. Damian broke his ankle getting it off. 

 

He wouldn’t let anyone touch him. If they tried, he’d disappear for hours at a time. He wouldn’t eat more than every other day either. He wouldn’t sign or write anymore either, so two sided communication was cut off. The only time they definitely knew where he was when he video called Ra’s to show training improvement every week.  

… 

Damian had went into hiding yet again. Dick and Tim couldn’t find him. “We have to call Jason,” Tim said.

“Why didn’t we call him in the first place,” Dick asked. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

“B’s orders. You could’ve defied him.”

“I should’ve.” Dick pulled his phone out. Tim could hear the ring. “Jay? Hey-- Sorry for being a stalker. Anyway-- Okay, I won’t call you again, but-- I promise. Jay, Damian’s back… You knew? Then why haven’t you been--” Jason hung up. 

“Jason knew,” Tim asked. Damian magically appeared at the mention of his favorite person in world’s name. 

“Has he been around here?” 

“Not as far as I know.” They looked at Damian. He kept a face of indifference. He had seen Jason since he came back. The man had visited multiple times. “Has he visited, Dami?” Damian didn’t answer, but that was the usual response. Tim shifted on his feet and Damian backed up.

“Dami, it’s dinner time.” Dick was pretty sure he’d come since, by their observations, today was an eating day and he hadn’t eaten yet. Damian walked to the dinner table and sat down. Tim and Dick followed. 

 

Dick tried to fill the mealtime with chatter, but only Alfred had the idea to join in. “Master Timothy, how was your day?” Tim looked up from where he was playing with his food.

“It was fine. The Team had a mission--”

“He lead Gamma,” Dick said excitedly. 

“Yeah. I did.”

“Maybe Dami could join the Team one day.” Dick smiled. Damian didn’t respond. He ate his food at a normal pace. Alfred would try and put more on his plate for at least a bit of supplement. Sometimes it worked. Other times, he would leave the extra food on his plate. Today, he was doing the former. Alfred smiled. 

“Yeah,” Tim said.

“What did you do today, Master Bruce?” 

“Meetings.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.” Damian finished eating and sat, waiting to be dismissed. He always waited until they finished. After about five minutes, everyone began to get up.

“You may be excused, Master Damian.” Damian got up and left. Dick followed so that they didn’t lose the boy again. 

 

Damian went into his room and closed the door behind himself. Dick figured he’d want to be left alone, so he exited stage right. Damian sat under the bed. An hour later, he could hear the window open. “Hey,” Jason whispered. He crouched down and saw Damian under the bed. “You gonna come out for me?” Damian shook his head. “You know I won’t hurt you.” Images of the contrary flashed in Damian’s mind. “That wasn’t me,” Jason said. Damian nodded. “C’mon.” Damian crawled out from under the bed. Jason kept his distance. “So, how’s life?” Damian didn’t answer. “I brought you some things.” Jason reached his hand in his jacket. Damian’s hand went to his knife. Jason pulled out a Red Hood doll and he relaxed the hand. “I don’t know what Ra’s did with the old one.” He held it out to Damian. Damian didn’t take it. Jason sat it on the floor between them. The boy took it and nodded a thank you. 

 

The doll looked about the same as the old one. It was the same material, but the jacket and helmet were now removable, and it didn’t have the same scar the old one did. Damian noticed it had a zipper. “You can put whatever you want in it. Made that part myself.” Damian unzipped it and gauged the size. He could put anything from candy to a small knife in there. “You like it?” Damian nodded. Jason smiled. “I also made you these.” He handed the boy a small bag of candy. Damian emptied it into the doll and zipped the compartment. He trusted whatever Jason put in them. Jason walked up a bit closer. Damian let him. It was the same routine every time. Jason inches closer each time. Jason sat down, and Damian followed suit. “You shouldn’t disappear too much. It scares them.” Damian didn’t respond. “Just stay in someone’s vicinity.” Damian looked down at the floor. “Nothing’ll happen. If I’m wrong and something does, someone will be right there.” Damian nodded. 

 

“Done much lately?” Damian didn’t answer. He looked at Jason intently. Jason just gave a small grin. They sat in silence for half an hour. “I should be starting patrol soon,” Jason said as he got up. “Mind if I come tomorrow? It’ll probably be in the afternoon.” Damian shook his head. Deciding to try something new tonight, Jason held his fist out. He had taught Damian to fist bump before. Damian bumped the fist weakly. Jason smiled. “See you later, Demon.” Jason slipped out the window.

 

There was a knock on Damian’s door. He moved back under the bed. “Damian?” The boy heard Tim. The teenager walked in. “Was someone in here?” The window was closed, so there was no evidence of Jason’s visit besides the doll. “Where are you?” Tim looked around the room until he found the boy under the bed. He wasn’t going to make him come out. “We’re leaving for patrol, thought you should know… good night.” Tim left the room. 

 

Damian hugged the Red Hood doll tightly. It felt the same as the old one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pt. 2 will be up tomorrow!


	20. A Young Assassin's Return (Pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pt. 2 is here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!

The next morning, the household noticed Damian’s new addition. That’s how they knew Jason must have been visiting this whole time. He kept closer tabs on the family than he’d ever admit. 

 

The boy followed Tim all day. Tim didn’t mind since that meant the boy wasn’t hiding. He kept his distance, but he was always in Tim’s eyeline. Tim suspected Jason had something to do with that too. He noticed Damian sucking on something.

“What’re you eating?” The boy was sitting on the floor with his doll and a book,  _ All the Light We Cannot See _ . Damian didn’t answer, so Tim came over. The boy backed away. Tim put his hands up as a sign of peace. “What’s in your mouth?” Damian pushed the doll over to Tim. Tim picked it up and examined it. He noticed a secret compartment. He unzipped it and saw the candy. It looked normal, but probably wasn’t. Tim wanted to test it. “May I have one?” Damian didn’t protest when he took one, so he assumed it was okay. He put the doll back on the ground for Damian to pick up and headed to the cave. Damian picked the doll up and followed Tim.

 

When they got to the cave, Tim started doing the tests, and Damian messed around with a car. Bruce had been trying to fix it, but he couldn’t figure out the problem. Damian had never formally learned mechanics, but it always made sense to him. 

 

The candy had a lot of vitamins and protein in it. Tim figured Jason had to special make those. The nutrients in it could easily substitute a day of eating and satisfy a stomach. It must be long lasting too since Damian’s was still sucking it. 

 

Tim stuck the sample in a bag to show Bruce later. Alfred came in to cleaning while they were still down there. “Boys,” Alfred said as he began to tidy up the main desk.

“Hey, Alfred,” Tim said. 

“What’re you all doing down here? I believe your mission briefing is not for another couple of hours.”

“I was just testing this.” Tim held up the plastic bag. “It’s a candy Damian was eating. I think Jason made it.”

“How do you figure that?” Alfred grabbed the bag and examined the candy.

“It’s rich with enough nutrients to replace over three meals. The caloric qualities must also have been tailored for maintenance.” Alfred nodded and gave Tim the bag back.

“I believe Master Bruce tried to make something like this a few years ago. He never could get it right.” Alfred smiled. He’s sure Jason would love to know that.

“I guess Jason finished it.”

“Master Bruce never shared his findings.” So it was an original. Jason may actually come home. If only to rub it in Bruce’s face. 

“How do we contact Jason? Dick called his number, so he’s probably changed it. It took us 6 months to find that one.” Alfred nodded his head at Damian. The boy was oblivious to their conversation. Tim smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you.’ He walked towards Damian. The boy looked up immediately. Tim stopped. 

“Do you have Jason’s phone number?” Damian looked back down and continued to tinker with the car. “What’re you doing to the car?” Damian came from under the car. He didn’t have one speck of oil on himself. He got in the car and started it. It worked perfectly. The horrible coughing sound was no more. Tim was in awe. 

 

Damian hopped out the car and picked up his doll from where it sat on the floor. He walked up the stairs. “Where’re you going,” Tim asked as he followed. Damian went in his room and shut the door in Tim’s face. Tim knocked on the door, but Damian didn’t open it back. 

 

Jason was already there. “Hey, Demon. Whatcha been up to?” Damian sat down against his bed. “Did you like the candy?” Jason gave smirk. Damian nodded. Jason heard Tim knock. “Replacement calling… i’m sure they know I come at this point.” Damian didn’t move to open the door. Jason sat down in front of the boy. It was a bit closer than the day before. He was pretty sure Damian noticed, but the boy didn’t seem to mind. He mostly just looked at Jason when the man came. “Did the candy help?” Damian nodded. Jason looked at Damian’s ankle.

 

He noticed it the night before, but figured he’d leave it for today. He wanted to make sure it was healing right and he doubted the boy let anyone else look it over. “Do you mind?” Jason gestured at the ankle. Damian curled up a bit. “Does it hurt?” The boy didn’t answer. “Can I see it?” Damian stared at Jason for a long time before nodding slightly. Jason got up and came close enough. Damian’s breathing picked up a bit.”It’s okay,” Jason said calmly. He carefully touched the ankle. The boy winced. Jason set the ankle then wrapped it gingerly. Jason sat by Damian. The boy let him. He heard Tim knock again. Damian went under the bed. Jason rolled his eyes. Why was his replacement always stopping progress? Jason got up and opened the door. Tim was surprised to Jason.

“You’re--”

“Not relevant. Why’re you here?”

“I was--”

“Go away. We’re busy.”

“What’re you doing?”

“We were making progress, but, thanks to you, we’ve regressed.”

“With what?” Jason closed the door in Tim’s face. Damian was still under the bed.

“Hey, you gonna come back out,” Jason asked softly. Damian shook his head. “It’s just me.” Damian studied Jason again. He slowly crawled back out. Jason returned to his usual spot. Damian was staring into the distance. Everything flashed. It wouldn’t stop flashing sometimes. Like, when there were loud noises, or someone popped up. Damian couldn’t be weak. His grandfather said weakness would get him killed. Damian looked at Jason. What Ra’s wouldn’t know couldn’t hurt him, right? Damian crawled over to Jason and sat in the man’s lap. Jason smiled. Damian laid his head back on Jason’s chest. They sat there for a while. Damian basking in the touch he missed, and Jason seeing more of the brother he’d known.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up tomorrow!


	21. A Young Assassin and Extended Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Damian's cousin and Tim gets his homework done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I missed yesterday! You'll get two today!

Damian was showing his Ra’s the newly mastered move he was given the day before. Ra’s expected everything to be perfect, and perfect it was. Damian was not one to accept failure. He’d worked on the move all night before Ra’s called.  _ “I am pleased Hafid.” _ Damian hid his smiled and kept the face of indifference as he laid his sword down. He bowed.  _ “You have been doing well. You will make a great Ra’s when your time comes. Has the detective done anything notable?” _ Damian nodded.  _ “You may speak.” _

_ He’s located League cell T-NJ-72-E.  _

_ “You’ve given him?” _

_ Nothing. I’ve kept to my orders. _ Ra’s nodded.

_ “You’ll need to go check on them. You may greet them.” _ Damian’s eyes lit up. “ _ Do not let feelings get in the way.” _ Damian nodded.  _ “Farewell.” _ Ra’s hung up. Damian went to prepare for the night. 

… 

As Damian went to leave, he was intercepted by Tim. “Where’re you going?” Damian wasn’t allowed to talk to his father’s family. He circumvented Tim. Tim chased after him. “You can’t leave, Damian.” The boy was already gone.

 

Damian got to the cell quickly. He walked in to see his cousin, Hannah. Hannah was a bit older than Damian, but she was always nice to him. “Damian,” she said warmly. He bowed and grinned. “I see Ra’s has given you permission to greet. What brings you here?”

_ Batman has found you. You will need to move. _ She frowned.

“That’s too bad, we liked it here.” Hannah was referring to her husband. Damian noticed Hannah looked fatter than she was the last time he saw her. That could only mean one thing. “I see you’ve noticed what the Americans call my ‘baby bump.’” Damian nodded. “It will be a boy. We’re naming him Aleksandr, after his grandfather.” Damian nodded. “Where will we be moving?”

_ Central City. It’s nice. It’s a better place to raise a child in actuality. _

“You’re very wise to still be a child yourself.” She chuckled. “I am sure we will like it there. Come so that I can look at you better.” Damian walked up to her reluctantly. She figured it out without having to be told. She made sure to not get too close. “How is my aunt?” 

_ Well. _

“That is good. May I offer you a cookie?” He shook his head, but she took one out of tupperware anyway. “Ra’s doesn’t have to know.” She held it out to him. He shook his head again. She sighed and grinned. “Must I report that a child is refusing orders from an adult?” He took the cookie and began to eat it slowly. He savored it. “Good boy, now come sit with me while I drink my tea.” He came and sat at the table with her. “You’re getting so big, my cousin.” Damian blushed. “How is the Batman treating you?” Damian shrugged. She rolled her eyes. “They need to stop fighting over you. It’s not good. You know, Americans use arbiters to decide the fate of their children. That may be best in their case.” Damian looked at his feet. “Look at me, I shouldn’t be so candid with you.” Hannah’s husband came out.

“Beloved,” he greeted. “Damian, it is good to see you.” Damian nodded and grinned bashfully. 

_ I must go. _ He stood up. 

“Can I offer you a ride back to the detective’s house?” Damian shook his head. He knew he was in enough trouble as it was. 

“Goodbye, my sweet.” Damian waved by and left the way he came.

… 

Bruce was not happy to say the least when Damian returned. “Where were you?” Damian didn’t answer. “You can’t just go wherever you want, Damian. Where were you,” Bruce asked again. Damian flinched when Bruce crossed his arms.

“B, cool it,” Tim said from behind Bruce. Damian’s communicator rang. 

_ “... Help…Rava--”  _ the voice was cut off. It was Hannah, Damian knew that much. He pressed a button and his dragon, Goliath, was summoned in seconds. Damian hopped on and rode away gloriously. He would’ve noted that had it not been dire circumstances. 

 

When Damian got there, he saw Ravager, a.k.a. Grant Wilson. Damian threw a shuriken at his head to get his attention. Grant gasped. “It’s Ra’s boy. You gonna hurt me, little guy?” Damian drew his sword. Grant attacked first, but Damian dodged and stabbed Grant in the stomach. Grant’s smile quickly turned into a frown. “That was fast,” he slurred. “Thought you’d be--” He dropped dead on the ground. Damian removed his sword. Damian didn’t play games when it came to combat. People like Grant talk too much. He heard crying.

 

He saw his cousin was dead on the ground. There are bruises on her neck. Her husband in hysterics beside her, holding her still warm hand. Damian started doing CPR on her. He didn’t notice Batman or Red Robin come in. Tim went beside him. “She’s dead,” Tim said sadly. Damian ignored him and kept going. “Damian--” Damian cut him off with the shake of a head. After a while, she began to cough and take deep breaths. 

“You’re okay, beloved,” he husband said. He dragged her into his arms and hugged her. “Thank you,” he told Damian. Damian waved her over. She turned to him. He pressed his fingers at certain spots on her abdomen. It felt fine. He pressed his ear to it. He had enhanced senses galore thanks to Ra’s. He could hear a heartbeat.

_ Have a doctor check on the baby, but it should be okay. _

“Thank you.”

_ Why was Ravager here? _

“I assume Ra’s crossed Slade in some way,” Hannah said. She’d recovered quickly. Damian nodded. He’d notify Ra’s. He sent Goliath by them. “He will take us to a secure location,” Hannah asked. Damian nodded. They smiled as they boarded the dragon. “Thank you, cousin.” She blew a kiss before Goliath flew away. 

“Damian,” Tim called. “You--”

“Killed Ravager,” Bruce interrupted. Family was important. “You can’t just kill.” He killed his cousin. Damian had no regrets. “Why?” 

“It was pretty obvious, B,” Tim said. 

“That wasn’t justified.” In Damian’s eyes, it was. “Are you going to answer?” Damian looked down at his feet. He wasn’t allowed to. 

“Did Ra’s ban you,” Tim asked. Damian didn’t answer that either. He went to leave.

“Come back.” Damian obeyed. “Who were they?” Damian bit his lip. “Unless you can’t, answer me.” Damian looked around he walked into the doorway and slammed his hand with the door as hard as he could. It hurt a lot, but it would be worth it in Damian’s opinion. He didn’t want to disobey, so it seems a like a good solution.

“Damian,” Tim screeched. Damian shrugged and hopped in the Batmobile. His hand would be fine. He had some Lazarus Water still. 

“This is getting out of hand,” Bruce said as he and Tim walked to the Batmobile. Tim couldn’t help but laugh at the unintended pun. Tim sat in the back with Damian. The boy scooted as far as he could to the other side. 

“Can I see your hand?” Damian was cradling it in his other one. The pain was a burning sensation. He was trained to deal with it, so he didn’t even flinch. He couldn’t be weak. Damian pulled his hand closer to him at Tim’s suggestion. That was a right he was only comfortable with Jason having for now. Tim, getting the message, turned his comm on. “Hood, come in.”

_ “What,”  _ Jason’s voice crackled across the channel.

“I need some… help with a case. Can you come to the cave?”

_ “No. I’m busy. Ask Nightwing. _ ”

“It’s really important.”

_ “How so?” _ Tim didn’t want to say it right in front of Damian.

“I need your help with my homework. B is useless.”

_ “Ask the Demon. He does college courses.” _ Tim was definitely giving Damian his homework when he got home, but back to the point.

“Please?” Jason grumbled.

_ “I will come, but on the condition that Batman is on patrol.” _

“Deal.” 

… 

Tim sent Bruce out for more patrolling. Jason came in an hour later. He was obviously annoyed. “What do you want, Replacement?”

“I need--”

“I hate you.”

“First of all, rude. Second of all, why’d you come then?” Tim smirked. Jason took his helmet off.

“Dickiebird said he’d buy me this really expensive gun polish if I ‘made an effort.’” Jason used air quotes.

“Can’t you buy it yourself?”

“It’s an exorbitant price! I’m not paying it!”

“B is a billionaire.”

“Not the point. I could afford it without his money anyway.”

“Back to the point. I need you to check Damian’s hand.” Jason sat his helmet down and removed his gloves.

“Why?”

“He broke it.”

“How?”

“Bruce told him to answer a question unless he couldn’t. Damian took him literally.” Jason hissed.

“He broke his hand for that emotionally constipated piece of--” 

“Don’t finish that.”

“Crap,” Jason finished defiantly. “Where is he?” Tim pointed to under the car. “Demon,” Jason called. Damian came from under the car and stared at Jason analytically. He was holding the Red Hood doll with his elbow. Jason came up to him. Damian scooted farther back. “Mind if I see the hand?” Damian moved to go back under the car. “I promise I’ll be gentle.” Damian didn’t move. “I won’t try anything. I promise.” He held his hands up in surrender. Damian still hadn’t moved, so Jason came close enough to check the hand. It was badly bruised and clearly broken. Damian didn’t wince when he touched it. Jason had a feeling the boy wanted to. Damian took his hand back as soon as Jason was done. “Can I set it?” Damian stepped back. “You don’t want it to heal wrong.” Damian had a contemplative look on his face. He kept his hand close to himself. “Here, lemme—“ Damian stood farther back. “Here, I’ll go over there. If you want your hand set, you can go sit in the medbay.” Jason went over to the other side of the cave. He pulled Tim with him.

“Ow. What’re you doing?”

“You have to give the kid space.” Damian slowly walked over to the medbay. He waited a few minutes before going over. Damian offered the hand. Jason had the boy sit on the medical exam table as he set the hand. Damian gave a small nod as a thank you when he was done. “Well, I gotta go before the big guy catches me.” Jason smirked as he left.

“Thanks,” Tim called. Tim came up to Damian. The boy scooted farther away. “So, Damian, I was wondering if you knew anything about Calculus.” The boy didn’t answer, but looked at whatever Tim was hiding behind his back. “Oh, see… I have this homework. With patrol and everything I have’t had time to get to it. There’s actually some English too. Just an essay. We did a lab in Physics actually, it wasn’t too hard, but a worksheet came with it. History had some reading too.” Tim realized he was rambling.  “You wouldn’t mind…” Damian pointed to a place on the floor. Tim placed his homework there. “Thanks a bunch! It’s due tomorrow.” Tim slowly backed away then turned to go back out on patrol. Damian smirked as he picked up the homework and went to find a pencil.

…         

When Tim came back from patrol, all his homework was done and in a neat pile on his desk. Damian forged his handwriting perfectly and the paper was more eloquent than the one Tim would have written. The notes on the history reading were detailed too. Tim sighed with content. Jason wasn’t as dumb as Tim thought.


	22. A Young Assassin Has a Scare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Number 2!

The homework became a routine. Tim left it outside Damian’s bedroom door and it was done and on Tim’s desk when the teenager came back from patrol. He wondered if Damian minded, but he didn’t think the boy did. There was no indication in the homework anyway. Eventually, Bruce found out. “Tim, you can’t have him do your homework.”  
“Why? It keeps him out of trouble and saves me time. You’re always saying I need more sleep.”  
“He shouldn’t have to do your homework.”  
“It was Jason’s idea, and Damian didn’t object.”  
“Tim--”  
“Alfred said he finishes it an hour after I leave for patrol. The kid’s smarter than I am Bruce! Let him exercise his strongest muscle, the brain.” Bruce rolled his eyes. Damian was sitting at the other side of the room. Bruce never knew if he listened to their conversations. He was pretty sure the boy accepted it as white noise.   
“Damian,” Bruce called. Damian looked up. Fear sparked in his eyes, but quickly went away. “ Tim needs to do his own homework.” Damian blushed.   
“Don’t you like it, Damian?” Damian looked down at where he was doing Tim’s math. “See, Bruce? He likes it.” Bruce looked at the papers.  
“You’re doing it right now? Tim, I thought you gave it to him before we went on patrol?”  
“The teachers say it’s smart to get ahead. That’s next weeks.” Damian continued to do the homework. Bruce went to take it and give it to Tim, but Tim stopped him.  
“He doesn’t like us getting close,” Tim whispered. Bruce nodded and stood back. He sometimes forgot. “He’s only ever let Jason get closer than eight feet.”  
“Then why isn’t Jason here more often,” Bruce asked.  
“You,” Tim said bluntly. He figured ripping off the band aid was the best approach.  
“He needs to be here if he’s the only one that’s made any progress.”  
“Dick’s probably your best bet on getting him short of Damian.” They walked out. Damian followed as usual.   
“Tim, I’m not going to ignore the fact that he won’t even let us near him.”  
“Jason’s working on it. Why do you think he follows us? Plus, the candy he made makes the every other day eating not an issue.”  
“It’s not good.”  
“It’s not, but we have to be patient.” Tim smirked. “Remember that? When I was training to be Robin you were all like: ‘Be Patient. You can get killed if you move too soon.’ You said everything could get me killed. I only believed you because of Jason.” Damian walked into the cave and parked himself by the car. He was homeworkless, so Tim knew he was done. He looked at Bruce pleadingly.   
“Get your homework.” Bruce sighed with frustration.   
“Thanks,” Tim yelled to Damian as he went upstairs. Bruce walked up to Damian. Damian backed away to create a gap.   
“Damian, come here.” Damian stayed away. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Damian stayed still. Bruce walked a bit closer and Damian bolted. Bruce wasn’t able to catch him. Tim came back down a minute later.   
“Where’s Damian?” Bruce was scratching his head. “What did you do‽”  
“I--”  
“You realize it takes us hours to find him. Those are on good days in which he’ll let us find him. Wasn’t it enough that he even stayed with us‽ Ra’s messed him up so much that he’s scared of us, but he still stayed around so that we knew where he was.” Tim pulled his phone out. “Of course Jason’s not answering.” Tim went on the comms. “Red Hood, come in.”  
“Stop calling me. There is literally a whole network of Gotham heroes. I’m an ANTI-hero. I kill. I’m a horrible person. Don’t call me.”  
“We need help finding Damian.”  
“Let me guess, B messed up? He’ll come back.”  
“Can’t you just come do that magic thing where you call his name and he comeswithin five minutes?”  
“You’re out of luck there. I’m busy. He’ll come back. Goodbye.” Tim rolled his eyes. Why’d he have to be so difficult.  
…   
Jason went to look for Damian. He wasn’t going to tell Tim that though. Of course they messed things up. That’s all they ever did. Jason knew it wasn’t Tim’s fault, but he didn’t like Tim, so he was going to group the teenager with Bruce. 

Jason has a tracker in the Red Hood doll. He knew it would come in handy. The boy brings it everywhere, so he luckily had it when he fled. Jason tracked him to an apartment in the upper class part of Gotham. He was pretty sure it was Talia’s. He picked the lock and came in. Damian must have been hiding since he wasn’t in any of the rooms. “Damian,” Jason called. “It’s just me.” Jason went around looking for clues to where the boy may be. “B’s sorry he scared you… You can stay with me tonight if you like.” Jason heard nothing. He sighed and turned around to see Damian sitting in the corner. That kid was a ninja inside and out. Jason smiled. “There you are.” Damian was thinking about something. Jason couldn’t tell what. Damian popped a candy in his mouth. Jason held his hand out. He tried something new every time they saw each other. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it went horribly wrong. It just depended on the day. Damian didn’t take Jason’s hand, but he did walk over to him and grabbed the corner of Jason’s shirt. They walked out the apartment and down to Jason’s car. Damian sat in the backseat. 

Jason drove to his favorite apartment of his seven. Damian planted himself in the corner of the living room. Jason, deciding to stop torturing Bruce and Tim, called. “I have the demon. Goodbye!”  
“Wait, where’d you find him?”  
“That’s not important. He’s staying with me tonight.”   
“Ja--” Jason hung up. He hated small talk…. And people. He doesn’t like them much either.  
“Have you eaten,” he asked Damian. Damian didn’t answer. Jason made him a sandwich. He sat it on the floor five feet away from the boy. Damian stared at it. “It’s not laced with drugs or anything. It’s just a normal sandwich.” Damian continued his staring. Jason just rolled his eyes and went to make his own.

Someone was knocking on the door an hour later. Jason walked past Damian on his way. The boy had eaten the sandwich. He was playing with the doll. Jason looked through the peephole to see Dick Grayson. Jason groaned to show his displeasure. “Jay? I know you’re here.” Jason opened the door.  
“Why are you here?”  
“B told me Dami was here, so I came to visit.”  
“He sent you.”  
“What do you think? Hi, Dami!” Dick waved at the boy. Damian just studied the man. “May I come in?” Jason looked back at Damian. The boy was napping now. That was fast.  
“I guess so.” He moved out of the doorway to let Dick in.  
“So apparently B nearly cornered him and he bolted.”   
“Okay…”  
“B wants him back, but I told him to wait a bit.” Jason nodded.  
“You’re telling me this because…”  
“If it weren’t for me, no one would keep you in the loop. Now, you’re going to keep me in the loop.” Jason still looked confused. “What’ve you been doing with Dami?”   
“Nothing really. I just talk to him and he listens.”  
“What’s the doll for?” Jason shrugged.  
“Comfort item.”  
“Tim told me the candy was a meal replacement.” Jason nodded.  
“Well yeah. If he wasn’t going to eat a more permanent solution was needed. It’s better than a feeding tube.”   
“That was smart.” Jason blushed and shrugged. Dick looked at the sleeping Damian. “He lets you touch him?”  
“Kinda. Really only when he’s hurt. I sit a bit closer to him each time. He hasn’t reacted badly to that.” Dick nodded.   
“Good job, Jay.” Jason rolled his eyes.  
“Really, Dickie?” Dick just chuckled.  
“Mind if I stay a bit?”  
“Sure I guess. I have to go run some errands.” Jason grabbed his jacket and walked it the door. Dick sat on the sofa and watched Damian for a bit. What had Ra’s done that had made the boy act this way? He’d obviously had a bit of PTSD the first time around, but it was much more severe now. 

About an hour later, Damian woke up. Dick was watching TV at that point. He looked over at Damian. “Hey, buddy. Jay had to run some errands.” Damian still had a look of indifference. He sat back up in his corner and played with his doll again. The toy could keep the boy occupied for hours. No one knew why. “You don’t have to stay in the corner.” Damian looked up then looked back down. His eyes had met Dick’s for a minute.


	23. A Young Assassin Finds His Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian found his place!!!

Damian’s time with his Grandfather was… Damian didn’t know how to describe it. He got some new things: a brand on his back and a mission. He was to infiltrate his father’s ranks. Ra’s gave him a strict timetable for everything. He was to feign trauma and let it slowly dissipate. He was being very careful.

 

He hated to upset his father’s family and Jason. He didn’t want to lie to them, but he had to be strong. Ra’s said so. Damian could feel them studying him. They watched his every move. It had been about six months now, so it was time for the next phase of the plan. 

 

Damian sat down in front of Tim and played with his Red Hood. That was one thing that hadn’t changed. Damian still likes Red Hood. Ra’s approves of Jason too. Damian stood up. Tim didn’t seem to notice. He carefully walked out. 

 

Damian was a given a mission. He needed to make sure he had his father’s affections. His mother said it was key in one of Ra’s’ plans, but Damian was pretty sure there was something else. He lived to please, so he didn’t question the true motive. He found his father in the Batcave looking at a picture of a crime scene. Damian carefully walked up to him. The man looked down, gave Damian a half smile, and looked back up. Damian wormed his way under his father’s arms and curled into his lap like a kitten. His father stiffened at first, but quickly relaxed and put an arm on the boy’s back and the other on his head. His father was warm and smelled of petrichor and vanilla. Damian didn’t mind the way his bulk encompassed him like Jason’s did. Damian would never admit it, but he liked this mission. 

… 

Tim glanced up and realized Damian was gone. Dang it. Dick told him to keep an eye on the boy. He searched all around the house, but couldn’t find him. He wished he had Jason’s superpower and could just call the boy’s name. He headed down the cave steps. “Bruce, have you seen Damian?” 

“He’s right here,” Bruce said. Tim came over to see the boy curled up in his father’s lap. Tim could hear soft snores emitted. It was a precious sight. Tim took a picture for Alfred. 

“That’s cute,” Tim said, grinning. Bruce grunted as he studied files. “You like it don’t you,” Tim asked slyly. “You haven’t had a true cuddler since Dick.” Tim and Jason didn’t feel remorse over the fact that they were a lot less touchy than Dick. They liked it sometimes, but most of the time did well without it. Dick lived on touch. He was always touching something or someone. Damian was pretty similar to the former two, but obviously had a side that enjoyed that too. Bruce chuckled.

“It’s okay.” Tim rolled his eyes. Why did the man have to be so emotionally constipated? He texted the picture to Dick and got an immediate reply comprised of at least two hundred emojis. How he managed that in a minute, Tim would never know. 

… 

Damian was changing clothes when Tim burst into his room. What did Tim want? Tim was staring at Damian’s back, the brand. Damian forgot about that. He usually hid it, but he didn’t think he’d have to worry in private. “What happened to your back?” Damian still wasn’t permitted to talk with them, so he didn’t respond. “Is that a brand?” Tim’s eyes were wide. He ran out of the room and called for Bruce and Dick. This would just be great.  

 

Dick was upstairs first. “What’s wrong,” he asked, out of breath. Tim grabbed Damian and turned him around. Dick’s eyes widened as Tim’s had. “He branded you‽” Dick sounded mad now. His fists clenched. Damian finished putting his shirt on. Bruce came up at that moment. 

“What happened?” Bruce looked around for any signs of danger. 

“Show him,” Dick told Damian. Damian didn’t move to take his shirt off. All eyes were on him. Damian slowly took his shirt off.

“Who did this,” Bruce asked.

“We all know it was Ra’s,” Tim seethed. Dick texted Jason to come over immediately and a picture of Damian’s back. Bruce touched the brand gingerly.

“Can you feel it?” He was referring to Damian’s back. He figured the nerve endings were ruined there. In all honesty, Damian couldn’t really feel most of his back. It didn’t matter since his senses weren’t impaired. “Why’d Ra’s do this?” Damian didn’t know. He was pretty sure it was a symbol of his ownership. Letting  everyone, and even Damian, know that his will was Ra’s and no one else’s. His grandfather said it had to be done and even gave Damian frozen milk fat after for being strong and not crying. Damian put his shirt back on so that they would stop staring. 

_ “You need to go have a talk with Ra’s.” _ Dick was speaking in Romani, so only Bruce understood.

“I will,” Bruce responded evenly. Damian stood back from them. He really didn’t like them so close. Ra’s has said his mother could visit, but she hadn’t yet. Damian understood she was busy, so he figured she’d contact him soon. His father and the others left the room. 

 

Damian had started drawing when they left. As he predicted, Jason arrived an hour later. He came in through he window. He looked mad. “He branded you,” Jason asked incredulously. “Let me see.” Damian stayed still. Jason sighed and calmed himself down. “Look, I’m not mad at you. Just let me see.” Damian stood up and took his shirt off. Jason hissed when he saw it. “Sorry, buddy,” Jason said softly. “I’m pretty sure B is going to confront him.” Damian grabbed his collapsible katana and began to climb out the window. “Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” Damian wasn’t about to stay in this house and feel sorry for himself. He’d go visit his Cousin or something. Jason followed him. “I’ll give you a ride if you tell me where to go.” Damian scrunched his face in thought. Jason thought it was cute, but he never said. He liked having no stab wounds thank you very much. He wrote an address on a piece of paper and headed to Jason’s bike. 

… 

“Where are we,” Jason asked when they pulled up to a classic suburban house. Damian walked up to the door and knocked. A man opened the door. 

“Damian,” he greeted. “Hey, aren’t you the detective’s kid that died? My aunt in law helped you out.” He moved out of the way to let them in. “The baby is so cute. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” Damian blushed. “Come see him!” Hannah’s husband led her to the living room where Hannah was sitting in a recliner with the baby.

“Damian,” she said sweetly. She waved him over. “Come see him.” Damian carefully walked up and looked at the baby. It looked healthy. Damian gave a nod of approval. Hannah chuckled at the mannerism. “Would you like some food?” Damian shook his head. “Who is your friend?” She looked at Jason. “Aren’t you—“

“Batman is not my dad. He’s just some rando that to me in when I was 12,” Jason interrupted. Hannah laughed. 

“Okay.”

“You are,” Jason asked.

“I’m Hannah… Raatko-Al Ghul.”

“Your mom is Nyssa?” She nodded. “Cool,” he said curtly.

“We’re going to raise the baby civilian,” she said out of the blue. Damian nodded. She didn’t say why, but he knew. He was a prime example of why one shouldn’t raise their child to be an assassin. “It’s nothing about you,” she said. He smirked. They both knew that was a lie. 

“You’ll turn out okay,” he husband said. Damian’s would have laughed if he knew he could. He was nowhere near okay. Not by any standards, but his Ra’s Of course. It didn’t bother him though. Ra’s wasn’t normal, so why should he be? Damian watched the baby. It was quite interesting, but he had no idea why. Was it the undeliberate movements? Or was it the way it cooed whenever Hannah brushed its hair or gave it a hoop on the nose? He wasn’t a baby for long. His mother had him grown genetically 4 years by his first birthday. 

 

Jason and Damian stayed for a few hours. Bruce had called them back, so they had to leave. “You’re always welcome,” Hannah said as they left. Damian nodded and grinned as he waved goodbye. 

“You’re cousin is nice,” Jason said as they got on the bike. 

… 

“You are to stay here. Don’t go anywhere,” Bruce told Damian. “Stay with Tim. Understand?” Damian just stared at his feet. He was wondering what may happen. Ra’s may kill his father. His father may kill Ra’s. His mother may come back for him. He wouldn’t mind living with her again. He hadn’t for a long time. He missed her.

“He does,” Tim answered for the boy. He took Damian’s hand. Bruce grunted as he and Dick got in the Batwing. Tim dragged Damian up the stairs with him. 

 

Tim decided playing a card game would be fun. He was teaching Damian how to play Go Fish when he started to feel drowsy. Damian felt it to. Tim was out cold on the floor. Talia came in through the window. Damian could see her blurrily. She picked Damian up and placed a kiss on his forehead. She carried him out the window and into a helicopter. Damian’s eyes were drooping heavily. “Go to sleep,” she said softly. He nodded and laid his head in her lap like he had the first time he came to Gotham. She covered him with a blanket as the settled in.

… 

When Damian woke up, he was in a bedroom. He recognized it as his mother’s room in the Leviathan Orbital Headquarters. He got up and lethargically made his way out of the room to find his mother. 

 

He found her in a conference room. She smiled and opened her arms to him. He came and sat in her lap. She was sitting with her assistant discussing plans for the next cell to be place in Coast City. “Are you hungry,” she asked Damian. He shook his head. She frowned. “We’re not adhering to Ra’s directives anymore. So, are you hungry?” He nodded. She grinned softly and turned to her assistant. “Have a meal prepared for him.” She nodded and hurried away. 

_ Where am I going next? _

“You’ll be staying with me. I obviously can’t trust your grandfather or my beloved to take proper care of you. Besides, your absence has been heavily noted.” 

_ My training? _

“Your training is done. Ra’s finished it a few months ago. I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you that.”    

_ So I will stay with you. For how long? _

“Until you are grown, my son,” she said it with a touch of incredulity. “Your father will receive visitation rights,” she sighed. 

_ May Jason visit? _

“Jason is welcome anytime.” She stood up. He grabbed the hem of her clothing as he always had. 

… 

Damian was happier with his mom. She let him do many things Ra’s had banned such as playing with toys and drawing with color. He still maintained his training. His favorite time each week was when his mother would spar with him. She made time for him in a way she never had before.  

 

He missed his brothers sometimes, but he stayed with his father a week out of every month and a bit longer during some American holidays. His father did not seem completely pleased with the arrangement, but Damian suspected his mother had something that kept his father in check. She still sent him on missions sometimes. She’d tell him to go sit with his father or play a game with him. His father was always willing to, and sometimes seemed to enjoy the missions as much as Damian did.

Damian felt he knew where he belonged now. He had a place in his father’s family and his mother. He would smile whenever he thought about it. Maybe his future wouldn’t be as screwed up as many had already predicted. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's All Folks!


End file.
